I hear many complaints from people who are unable to collect their child support, do not get the remedies they are promised by the Department of Revenue for getting arrears paid, or in some cases, there are people who have been paying child support who are not getting their proper credits. This doesn't occur in every case, but in many cases, people are lost in the system and there are many questions about whether or not the Florida Department of Revenue Child Support Enforcement Division is being properly managed. The following article addresses one local woman's problem with child support, specifically the Department of Revenue. If you have had similar problems, please let us know about them and/or contact your local congressman/woman. Perhaps with a little bit of effort we all can help make some changes.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orl-asecsupport041909apr19,0,6230693.story
23 comments:
Christine,
I think this is a problem that goes beyond Florida as well. Here in Maryland, budgetary problems also mean less enforcement, and it comes at a time when the custodial parent needs the money the most.
Heather Sunderman
I am a noncustodial parent living in the state of Florida. I have similar problems with the DOR.
However it is from the other side of the problem. You see back on 10-10-2006 the DOR filed an upward modification of child support. However to this very day the case is still pending. (2.5 years later)
The DOR knows where I live and work, but chose not to bring the case to trial for whatever reason?
I am very sure they will come up with some type of reasoning why they continue to victimize the mothers and fathers around the state.
It seems to me that the rules and guidelines need to be OVERHAULED just like the Child Custody and Visitation rules were not long ago.
I will say this, in my case, I have filed to Motion to dismiss, and I will push this case all the way to the Florida Supreme Court. It’s not about me anymore; it’s about the 1000’s of Men and women around the state, that the DOR victimize each and every day by their careless, unprofessional, cowardly acts.
The Florida DOR is the biggest waste of State Tax Funds, I have ever seen in any State in the union.
Florida Child Support Services is a complete disgrace! I have never seen anything so disorganized. I have waited for almost 3 years to get an order in place and was told by Florida Child support call center to hire my own attorney! Then when I did that they told me they couldn't help me...how sneaky. Not to mention that Florida never filed the original claim in the first place...even though they had me take several days off work to go into the office to file....but nothing was done until I hired an attorney....! More over, I called the call center for a whole year and was told to just wait. They gave me the run around to allow more time for the other state involved. No one really looked into the case or even followed up on it. This lack of job ownership/responsibility cost everyone money. Why would they have me hire an attorney with money that should be used to feed/house/clothe my daughter?? What is the point of having a system if it doesn't work?
Now Florida child support enforcement is telling me that they are going to close my case because I am not cooperating...but no one can tell me why or even how I am not cooperating! Yet, the father is the one that won't produce tax returns, the state of VA and the judge confirmed in court that I have produced everything needed yet Florida child support services continues to me that I am not cooperating.
I wrote to Charlie Crist previously...He never responded. He doesn't care about children and keeping families together.
Better yet, I heard about the new high tech immigration services/buildings that Florida tax payors paid for to make things more accomidating for our immigrants...not to say that isn't nice...but does anyone in Florida care about CHILDREN? No wonder the crime rates are so high!!
They should try to help the parent's that are trying to do things right and not attempting to live off the system. Right?
Why not have these deadbeat fathers/mothers pay for all of this instead of tax payers? Then maybe they (the bad parent's) would stop running away from their responsibilities? Let's stop penalizing the parents that have stepped up to the plate to raise the child!!
Come on Florida let's re-evaluate how we spend our money? This system is not working and it's a waste of everyone's time and money!!
Amen Anonymous!!!
I agree 100%. The FL Child Support system is a joke. My child's father is a professional man that files his taxes every year yet they can't locate him?????? Nonsense!!! They intercept his income tax returns to recoup arrearages but they can't find him to serve a Motion.
He purchased a home in Palm Beach County right around the corner from the child support office and by the time they found his address (3 years later) the house had been foreclosed on 2 months prior and now they can't find him.
He use to pay religiously, when he was afraid of them, but he seems very confident that they aren't doing their job and they never will.
They even had the nerve to tell me that they can not suspend his driver's license because they can't find him.
STUPID!!!
I was just involved in a recent child support modification hearing (Florida DOR) in which I was trying to get my monthly support lowered due to a change in my income. My original child support obligation was based on my job in CA and was based on my income in that state. After moving to the stae of CT becuase of a job oppurtunity for my wife, I contacted the state here to look into pursueing getting my support modified as I know was making what I was in CA. The attorney appointed by the state of Florida denied my motion to modify due to the fact that I left voluntarily. Our household income has been drastically reduced and I no longer can afford the order in which the attorney has now made enforceable by the state of Florida. There are also many conflicts with what the 2 states (CA and Fl.) says I owe in arrearages. It also seems like the DOR office I dealt with has no communication with the stae of Fl as I had filled out combined household income affadavits through CT that went to the state of FL. What can I do if anything?
I now live in FL, I came from MD, the deadbeat dad lived in PA - moved to NJ and works under the table in NY. I contacted local, state, regional and Federal CSE for all areas. I am nothing no one cares. I sent informative info on where he is - he's even on facebook. I handed his head over on a silver platter. Nothing. He owes almost $30,000. Never showed for court a year ago, still free.
Shot I called them with my new job info a few years back before i started the job, the whole year i was there they done nothing to have it deducted from my check. Every time i called they gave me the excuse that they have to wait for the system to update.....one year for update? i think not. They really got some highly incompetent idiotic jackasses working there and running it considering they don't do their jobs and have over 500 foster kids lost in the system that they cant locate. So when it comes time that i get a part time ob with less pay, they automatically start deducting. Seriously get off of your lazy high payed asses and do your jobs! You are full of your selves and don't deserve the trust of ANY Florida resident and beyond!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I too think the Child Support Enforcement Dept. in Florida is a joke. I am the custodial parent and the father is a professional (Lawyer). He has never made support payments on time when he did pay, and he is probably about 2 years in arrears ( note: I said arrears because I was told as long as he pays something he isn't delinquent. His driver's license has been suspended several times and the state says they can not go after his professional/business license. I was told I could hire my own attorney however I would not be able to get any public assistance from the state and they consider that being uncooperative
and they would no longer help me pursue my case. Talk about a broken system. This lawyer is playing like a fiddle.
What if the father is paying his support but the mother doesnt comply with the order for daily contact by phone? Father sees child every 2 wks for wknd stay, but since child is very young (3), she will soon forget about him, because when father calls, mother says the child is here, there, busy, sleeping, and most recently the child says she does not want to get on the phone! Father is very upset by this, and says mother is "playing with childs head".. what does a father who pays his support do? so far, he has kept a log of dates of calls etc.. but going to court every time mother is in contempt is impossible.. father is barely able to live, much less hire atty.
The Child Support System in Florida is a joke. I can't even get them to assist me. My child father is in the military and they are saying they can't find him. Are you kidding me? He's in the military. They keep telling me to bring them more and more information. The more I bring, the less they do. Now they are saying they are going to drop my case because they can't find him. Is there no help?
Here's a story that will make you laugh. After 2 years of not paying, I finally went to the DOR. I did all the paperwork myself, like I did for my divorce, and had no problem with filing or getting a court date. The problem was the Judge, who tells my ex, "you need to make a reasonable to pay", What exactly is a reasonable effort?. The Judge says, "ma'am, he only makes 400/week, his support is almost half that, he has to live too" HA! He CLAIMS he only make 400/week, and guess what, I only make 500/week and have to support TWO kids on my own, including HIS half of the $250/mo medical premium!!!
The system just DISGUSTS me! He lives RENT FREE, has NO BILLS, and doesn't even pay for the kids medical!!! What a pig!
I Have Been A Single Parent For 25 years, 2 fathers. It took 12 years to get child support for first two, no arrears. Now with my youngest, I am owed over one hundred eighteen thousand dollars. He pays when he feels like it & the DOR won't go after him unless he is 30 days late. He pays once a month to keep him self out of jail. I am so over it, my daughter is a teenage, & she is very espensive!! I work my butt off just so my kids wouldn't going without the basic neccesities. I would go without eating just they could. It makes me so sick when I think of all the single parents out there, that are in the same or worse situations. I have so many ideas to bring this out of control problem to place where the absent parent WILL be accountable.
lCSE has stopped my child support and took away the arreages of 30,000 dollars. my son is only sixteen and the state decided he the ncp know longer had to pay me but they have no answer as to why. CSE said i must wait for a court date and i called about that court date and CSE told me it was yesterday and neither party showed up. well of course neither me or the NCP were notified at all. doesn't this seem like a waste of time and money? Yet they have no answers for me when i call the very bus CSE 800 number. I have another case and the NCP has been hiding for 7 yrs and we found an address for him to be served, i gave the address to CSE and they said it would be awhile before he got served. This CSE service is useless but yet we are forced to comply to receive gov. benefits.
Well, I read these dated comments and think, Nothing has changed. I am amazed by how I have said the exact same things that others have said. And I had no idea until I just read this now. The DOR is playing with my head right now. The father that is in arrears must have checked out the system well because he pays less than 1/7 of what he should, no health/dental and no 50%of expenses. I just hung up with the judge's office, they are worse than DOR I think, and they can't tell me how many petitions the deadbeat father has filed. The judge refused to grant a Motion of Contempt on him because she told my lawyer(whom I can no longer afford), that there was no purge money. Yet the judge's office just told me no one reads anything until trial. But no one will set a trial. They keep setting GM hearings, which have been objected to twice now. And now they say we have to go to mediation again yet the father is not offering anything to mediate. The judge's office says DOR has to file something to give them the case adn the DOR says they need the judge to set notice of trial. Neither will ever happen. I asked the judge's office if the court realized that the child was going without support. She said, "yeah". But no one will look at the proof of the father hiding his income and he's willfully not working to avoid paying. Nice job Florida. The best part...none of us live there anymore. I can't even close the baseless petitions the father started to move the case to my state.
I 100% agree, Florida Child Support Services is a complete disgrace and so it the court system! I have never seen anything so disorganized. With the DCF I have waited for almost 3 years to locate a parent even though I was repeatedly giving the DCF the address of the deadbeat parent. I ended up filing a case myself, but didn't go very far because the court system as disorganized as the DCF. What a waste of tax-payer money.
Well it looks like everyone is in the same boat. Three years seems to be the magic #. My daughter has been filing for 3 years for child support. If she didn't live w/me, I don't know what would happen.
The "deadbeat" father is "hiding in plain sight". He lives and works locally in Sarasota County and DCF has done nothing and the court systems to inadequate and, that's being kind. We have received notes for court appearances that belonged to two other cases. They can't even get the paper in the right envelope.
Meanwhile, this deadbeat father has paid I dime. Oh, we got a letter from DCF saying they were going after his taxes, but there is a six month wait after they secure, if they do, so that they are "free and clear" and not owing to the IRS for any reason. You don't suppose deadbeat father file fraudulent taxt returns do you? I think we need to march on Tallahassee like every other organization and brings attention to their plight, Are you with me.
The non custodial parent in my case is paying, but i'm not receiving!! He has paid $230 so far, and they cant find a trace of where the money went. Their only suggestion to me is it takes time. THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE!! I just moved here from NC about 6 months ago, there I never had a problem getting my payments!! Now I cant find any person not in a CALL CENTER to talk to!! Florida child support is a JOKE!
I have paid child support for the last ten years through an Income Deduction Order (IDO). My last child turned eighteen in July and has graduated high school. Much to my surprise, the IDO is still in effect and my ex continues to receive payments. I have discovered that it is up to me to file the paperwork for a court hearing to end the IDO. I have been trying to get the state to cease sending payments to my ex, but the process is an exercise if frustration. The state had not problem issuing the IDO, but now that my obligation has ended, they won't automatically end it. The Orange County Clerk of the Court is not interested in helping at all. The Dept of Revenue won't help. It's impossible to reach a live person at the Dispursement Office. What a joke this is!!!
Hey Annoymous. I saw that you left a comment on August 19th. I hope that you were able to solve your problem. If not, let me know you can reach me at christine@bauerfamilylaw.com. In order to stop your support, you have to file a Supplemental Petition to Modify and do that ASAP. That is the only way that you are going to be able to stop the support. I have had this problem with a bunch of different clients and it is the only way to solve it. Let me know if I can be of assistance.
The Division of Child Support Enforcement is proud of the work we do helping the children in Calefornia.
Well reading all your comments Im afraid to evenfile for chilld support! How does it go? I ask because my sons father says if I ever put him on child support he will never come around again! I know he means it cause he has another child he does the same thing! Which that threat doesnt matter because he doesnt come around anyway once we broke up he broke up with our son to! Well he is the type of person who moves around because if he can mooch off of someone he will! He's on the birth certificate does that matter? He might not be able to be located... Were in Florida. Im afraid because if he finds out were trying to put him on child support he'll stop buying what my son needs he helps out with just diapers a month and the occassional thing here or two if our son "Needs" it. He said if I put him on child support thats all I will get from him. Im a stay at home mom hes our source for stuff my son needs. He should be giving us more...(he has bigger thing he needs I dont want to explain on here) Any Advice ? Or experiences please feel free to email me myriam5182@gmail.com I dont know what to do...... Im afraid to put him on it and we dont get paid.
Nothing has changed! In July 2011the NCP stopped paying, so I asked my state to contact FL DOR and enforce the order. Nothing happened--- surprise. After months of stalling, HHS came up with the biggest crock of lies as to why they didn't take action. FL DOR claimed I scheduled my own hearing and appeared in a FL court so they would not do anything. I guess they didn't check the court docket. My state admitted they lost my paperwork. All I know is they keep blaming me for their failures.
its been over 13years..and time and tme again and court hearing after court hearing a slap on the wrist thats all he gets. He owes over 42K. So instead of talking about it what can I do to change this nonfunctional system.
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