Pennsylvania Child Support Law [NA]

[Greebo]

I have a friend who has made some rather bad choices in life that he is now trying to set straight. He lives in PA, but he originated in Oregon. He has a daughter in Oregon for whom approx 4k in back child support is long over due.

He is actively seeking work but having a hard time finding assignments, however he is making a serious effort (later than he should have...the threat of court action got him moving).

He is being told that even though he's getting occasional work and seeking full time employment so that he can make good, he's still got a good chance of going to jail.

Question: 4k seems a very small amount. I have a friend in IN who's wife's ex was 5k behind and they couldn't even get a tax judgment. Is this relatively small amount typical for PA to take such aggressive action?

Question: His PD is not well versed in CS law. What else can he do to help his case to stay out of prison so that he CAN get a job? He's already in counseling, on anti-depressants, and like I said, interviewing a lot, although he's being somewhat boneheaded - he resists applying for *ANY* work - he's being too selective IMO seeking only office work....

 

[etsisk]

Chuck, I see a lot of this sort of thing and really, the only way to get the message to some people is to stand back and let it hit 'em head on. Fact is, he's refused to abide by his own obligations, didn't even start until threatened, and still will only play by what seems to be his own ego-driven rules. Is he feeling put-upon and treated unfairly? I know my guess would be "yes".

Honestly, the best thing you could probably do for this guy is let him get a "reality check" so he can pull the cork outta his butt, let out some of that hot air and deflate that ego a bit, and maybe, just maybe, he'll start taking responsibility for his own actions.

Yeah, I know this sounds harsh - but I've just seen this over and over and over and ...

 

[SCCutler]

...since he's not my friend, I say: ...what Tom said!

(PS- ask Adam)

 

[Greebo]

Tom I don't disagree with you. I'm just wondering if its usual for the state to be this hardball over what is a fairly small amount.

I am in total agreement that he needs to get off his ass and get to work. He got himself fired from his last job then he went to school full time, not working, with a kid in Oregon who wasn't getting support. Now he's not in school anymore (with lots of excuses for that too)...and he's too "proud" to get a job in retail.

I mean, dude, YOU ARENT SUPPORTING YOUR 2 KIDS (he has another in PA - remarried) - What exactly are you proud of here thats keeping you from getting a ****ing job???

No, i'm not *sympathetic* to the guy at all. I'm sympathetic to his wife who's working full time, homeschooling her 2 kids and getting no $$ from him to pay for her 3rd his 2nd. SHEs getting her life turned around, he's dragging her down.

Still, at least he is *finally* interviewing and getting little 1 day jobs here and there.

The only thing I'd do for him at this point is throw him job leads.

Hmm - anyone got any administrative jobs around Monroeville that need filling?

 

[AuntPeggy]

I'm glad to see the guys coming in on the side I automatically took.

Chuck -
“What are some of the ways enabling manifests?”
Sometimes enabling takes the form of doing something for others that they should do for themselves.
Sometimes it takes the form of making excuses for someone else’s behavior.
Sometimes it constitutes bailing out someone when they have been arrested.
Sometimes it is getting into a fighting mode and defending someone rather than requiring them to take responsibility for correcting their situation in a healthy way.

 

[Ken Ibold]

I have had a couple friends who have been blindsided by orders for child support involving children they didn't know existed. To them and your friend this piece of advice is too late, but for others, perhaps not: Wrap that rascal!

 

[Missa]

I have had a couple friends who have been blindsided by orders for child support involving children they didn't know existed. To them and your friend this piece of advice is too late, but for others, perhaps not: Wrap that rascal!

And for God's sake! Take a pill!

 

[AdamZ]

Wow Peggy I couldn't agree more with your enabling statements

As for PA law well its not so much the state that will or won't be the hard ass its the particular judge in that particlar county. There is a decent chance the judge won't give a rats posterior about a back order from Oregon but then again who know. If your friend shows he is making a legit effort to get work and can show proof of his medical problems ( depression) and a legit reason he can't be outside shoveling manure AND is he starts to make an effort to pay down some of the back support. Even if its just a few hundred bucks then he has a decent shot of staying out of jail.

What he needs to do is get his support order reduced in Oregon if it is legiimatley to high. If not he needs to get off his arse and get a job and pay something every week.

 

[etsisk]

Wow Peggy I couldn't agree more with your enabling statements...
What he needs to do is get his support order reduced in Oregon if it is legiimatley to high. If not he needs to get off his arse and get a job and pay something every week.

Yes, sir! Yes, sir! Three bags full!!

 

[Greebo]

If your friend shows he is making a legit effort to get work and can show proof of his medical problems ( depression) and a legit reason he can't be outside shoveling manure

Thats his killer right there. In his position he has no justification for not seeking ANY work he can get, but he keeps insisting that anything but office work is beneath him.

I'm only talking to his wife about this. If I were talking to him, he'd get SUCH an earful. Any man who isn't owning up to his obligations to support his children is as low as you can get. Shoveling manure would be attainable only by reaching UP for someone like that. *sigh*

AND is he starts to make an effort to pay down some of the back support. Even if its just a few hundred bucks then he has a decent shot of staying out of jail.

What he needs to do is get his support order reduced in Oregon if it is legiimatley to high. If not he needs to get off his arse and get a job and pay something every week.

Agreed.

Like I said, I've got no sympathy for him. I've got sympathy for her, although she's made some pretty stupid choices too in the past, she's trying very hard to fix things.

Its just that now with the threat of prison he's FINALLY taking job hunting seriously, and for just 4k, the way the state seems to be coming across, it seems like they're acting like he's far past the point of giving him any more time. If he's in jail he can't get a job. He *is* looking - that should count for something...even if it is as belated as it is.

 

[etsisk]

Its just that now with the threat of prison he's FINALLY taking job hunting seriously, and for just 4k, the way the state seems to be coming across, it seems like they're acting like he's far past the point of giving him any more time. If he's in jail he can't get a job. He *is* looking - that should count for something...even if it is as belated as it is.

They will frequently give someone who's in there for child support "work release", so they can work a regular job (and start paying down the debt that got them there in the first place) while in jail. Of course, you have to actually HAVE a job to qualify for that, I reckon - but maybe they'll have a little something somewhere that he can do - working at KFC in the kitchen, perhaps. Ah, now THAT would be justice, I'm thinking!

 

[KennyFlys]

I don't know about other states but Colorado child support guidelines appear to be quite a bit off. They tend to take quite a percentage of income with no regard for any amount of time the non-custodial parent may have care of the child. I was married to a blind person which added some strange issues. She drew SSI, subsidized housing, subsidized utilities and phone, food stamps, WIC and some other benefit I cannot recall. At the early years of my divorce, I was not making much at all. My ex's combined benefits were far ahead in value compared to my income; by some forty percent more. But the entire "allotment" as decided by the guidelines came from my income. Hers was entirely exempt.

Oh, she had one more awesome benefit. The state of Colorado would pay for her education in its entirety all the way through a masters. She dropped out after one year when she got pregnant by some guy she met at social services. Other moms I knew were struggling to pay for an education on top of working full-time.

I've met women who abused a given situation and the ex-husband was at a loss with no ability to bail out but just pay as required. I've seen others simply stick to it, be a mom and do whatever it took for their child. I've seen dads bust their @$$ and not a single negative word be said against them, even from the ex-wife. Others are like your friend. They appear to not give a flip and won't even try.

All that being said, there's no amount of money that can offset a father working to be near his children and actually being a "dad", giving them all the time they deserve and more. After that, it's more like a tort. The father cannot or is not willing to give time nor make up for lost time to his children. So, all that's left is money.

The latter appears to apply to your friend. What's worse, it may take decades before he figures out what he missed. If he doesn't, he never had a heart and was merely a sperm donor.

 

[michael Killacky]

I love to tell this story when the oppurtunity presents.

When they first put "Quick Draw" (Keno) in the bars in New York, A guy I know and never liked wins $25,000 playing one night. Anything over $600 needs to be claimed at a Regional Lottery Office. The nitwit rents a limo and a coupla' hotel rooms takes his buddies up to Syracuse and they blow a big wad partying like The Kennedys for the night. Goes to the Regional Office the next day and presents the winnig ticket. Clerk tells him it's a good ticket worth 25 Large, BUT, your behind on your child support and your ex is on public assistance so you get $0. As soon as we figure out how much support you owe, then we tax the whole amount, we'll mail what's left over.

Last time I heard, he still never got a dime and had to pay taxes on the whole thing anyhow. Poetic Justice if I ever saw it.

 

[AuntPeggy]

Thats his killer right there. In his position he has no justification for not seeking ANY work he can get, but he keeps insisting that anything but office work is beneath him.

Anything but providing for his child is beneath him.

 

[tdager]

Anything but providing for his child is beneath him.

While I agree...please do not make the assumption that every sperm donor (not saying this guy is the case, just using the general term) cares about the child they fathered (or in some cases mothered).

While it is no fault of the child, there are those out there that feel the pregnancy and birth were a mistake and do not care to be anything other than the "money giver". I, for one, am not going to slam them for that.

Oh and BTW...no I am not one of them, no kiddos here!