Legal Question in Family Law in Virginia
IN our original divorce decree, which was filed in Florida, my ex husband had primary custody of our children. Shortly after, we decided our boys would be better off with me. So they moved in with me and my fiance', now husband, and have lived with us ever since. IN 2001, my ex gave me a certified letter saying he relinquishes any custody and wishes to give my husband and I sole custody. He said he would change the divorce decree, he did not, and that was our fault. But now, over a decade later he is giving us a hard time about any support, he doesn't want to pay any, and if we question him, he says he doesn't have to because he never changed our decree, and in fact I owe him. Our tax records prove the boys have lived with us, my husband pays the majority of their care, and they go to school in our district. Is he right, and I will owe him, so I should say nothing?
2 Answers from Attorneys
No, he is absolutely wrong, and unless your husband adopts the boys and the father's rights are formally terminated by a court of proper jurisidction, this man remains "fully on the hook", one might say, for all future support that might be owed for these children until they reach their age of majority.
However, it should also be noted that under the circumstances described, liability for past support cannot be established retroactively in the absence of a valid support order for these prior periods. Your best approach (in my opinion)to handling this out of state matter, is very likely to turn it over to DCSE (Division of Child Support Enforcement), and let them pursue this matter by filing a petition under the Uniform Family Support Act which would then be forwarded to their sister child support enforcement agency in Florida for processing.
In my opinion, unless there was a support order in the past in which he was ordered to pay support, you most likely will not be able to collect retroactively. Support usally relates back to
the time a petition was filed. Although you had custody of the children you never sought to modify order through court. You can file for present and future. I agree with prior attorney statement. Contact DCSE.
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