Child Support

Published on: January 24, 2012

Court Decides Parental Rights for Same Sex Couple

by Stephen Bilkis

Two female partners, jointly entered into a sperm donation agreement with the sperm donor. In the agreement, both were described as “recipient,” “mother” and “co-parent” from what a New York Family Lawyer found out. The agreement had removed all the rights of the sperm donor with the rearing of the child and that the co-parents will be the one responsible for any decision regarding the child. The agreement also had a provision that if in case, the mother of any of the child or children can no longer take care of them because she was deceased or legally disabled, it is in the child’s best interest to be with the co-parent.

A Nassau County Family Lawyer said that in the agreement, the mother is the one who conceives and gives birth to the child. The recipient is the one who receives the sperm. The co-parent is the one who agreed to be the parent of the child but did not give birth to them. The two women were to be “psychological parents” to any child or children whom they may have.

One gave birth to a child as a result of the sperm donation. The two signed another agreement, which said that it was a joint decision to conceive. They agreed to both share in the financial responsibility of raising the child as well as equally share in providing for the child until it reaches the age of maturity. Even if one was not a natural parent, she has assumed the role as one. She was part of the pre-natal phases and plans to be part of the child’s life as a parent. A Nassau County Child Support Lawyer read that even if they no longer live together, the agreement as to how to take care of the child will remain intact. The gave each other authority to make decisions regarding the child’s medical and dental health.

Published on: January 23, 2012

Court Denies Proposed Relocation of Parent

by Stephen Bilkis

A mother had filed an appeal against an order that disallows her to move to Texas with her two children. The mother had two sons with the father. They were born three years apart, said a New York Family Lawyer. Almost five years after the youngest was born, the parents divoced. In the final judgment for the dissolution of marriage, the court had them share parental responsibility. The custody of the children was given to the mother, with the father getting liberal visitation. The decision specifically said that the visitation is at least one night in a week plus every other weekend. A restriction on the relocation of the mother and the children was not provided in the decision.

The mother and her new husband lives in Texas with his son. They met when he was assigned in their area for an extended period. About a year and three months after the dissolution of the marriage was finalized, the mother filed a petition to change the visitation provisions because she will be marrying her new husband, and they would be moving to Texas. The father filed a case with the court asking for an injunctive relief. A Nassau County Family Lawyer said this was to prevent the mother from moving the children to Texas. It was granted by the court.

A final hearing was done in November 2004 where the new husband, the mother and the father testified. The new husband said he was a right-of-way agent for the oil and gas industry. According to him, he earns about $70,000 to $90,000 per year, his line of work though is not open in the current State. The mother’s testimony mentioned the benefits of moving the children to the smaller community of Ponder, Texas. She said her new husband has a new 3000-square-foot home and that there was a public school nearby. According to a Nassau County Child Support Lawyer, the mother testified she was currently earning $58,000 per year, and can be promoted in her current employment. Once they move, she planned to be a stay at home mother, but if necessary, she could find a comparable employment in Texas. Although she does not have family in Texas, they are just two and a half hours away in Oklahoma. The father said he works nights, from eleven in the evening to half past seven in the morning. According to him, if he missed any scheduled visitation, it was because of work. Their normal activity of boating, fishing, bowling and other recreational stuff often include the children’s paternal grandparent, aunts, uncles and cousins.

Published on: January 21, 2012

Court Rules on Child Support Issue

by Stephen Bilkis

Two years after a couple got married, their first child was born. After about four years of being married, the couple got divorced. Custody was given to the wife, and the court gave the father reasonable visitation rights. The wife got married again shortly after the divorce. She moved to Phoenix, Arizona after and did not notify the father, according to a New York Family Lawyer.

The father contacted missing children agencies in an effort to find the mother and the children, as he did not know where they went. The wife never tried to contact husband to get child support, even though she knew where was. After five years, she contacted father and told him where the children were. He resumed the child-support payments and visitation immediately. Two years after resuming contact, the wife filed a claim for child support in arrears.

In her claim, she reasoned that even if there was interference with the visitation, it is still the obligation of the non-custodial parent to pay child support. Child support and visitation are independent of each other. According to a Staten Island Visitation Lawyer, the Trial Court found the mother guilty of laches, which means she negligent in her making the claim. The court said she is not entitled to the child support in arrears. The mother appealed against this saying, she, being guilty of laches is not an appropriate reason not to grant her petition.

Published on: January 20, 2012

Court Rules on Nonpayment of Alimony

by Stephen Bilkis

This case begins where a couple was divorced, and the mother got the custody of their two children. The children were fourteen years old and twelve years old respectively at that time of the divorce. The father was given visitation right of not less than eighty-five days per annum. The alimony set was at $1,800 per month and for child support it was at $1,000 per month per child. A NYC Visitation Lawyer said the mother did not comply with this order, which made the father file a petition for modification of the alimony to $1,000 and decreasing the child support to $300 per month per child.

It was determined that the mother was making their children decide whether they want to see their father or not. It is between them and their father, who lives in Florida. She does not discourage them to see him, but she does not encourage it as well. The Trial Court granted the father’s petition, and this was affirmed by the Court of Appeals.

The mother filed a motion for contempt of court against her husband saying he is not paying the alimony. She asked the court as well to award the alimony in arrears and to have it continued. According to a New York Family Lawyer, the Domestic Relations Commissioner reviewed the file and found that the father was in arrears for the amount of $3,600 until that month, and the next regular payment should be made the following month. He testified he did not pay the alimony because he was not able to visit with their child. The older one was already emancipated. The mother, he said, refused to discuss visitation with their daughter. He did not deny that he could make the payment as the amount was deposited to an escrow account. He raised the same issue as with his claim where because of the denial of visitation, he did not pay the alimony.

Published on: January 19, 2012

Court Changes Child Support Based on Visitation

by Stephen Bilkis

This case was about a couple whose divorce was finalized in 2007. In their marriage, they had one child who was given to the father’s custody. In the divorce judgment, a marital settlement was also included. Because of the big difference in the income of the mother and father, the bulk of the expenses for the child was assigned to the father. The mother was to cover for the medical and dental insurance of their child, said a New York Family Lawyer. The mother was given visitation of at least forty percent of the overnights. This is subject to certain conditions. The first was for the mother to have psychological evaluation, and she should attend an on-going psychological or psychiatric counseling. The second is to have mother’s home inspected frequently for home and overnight visitation.

According to a Nassau County Family Lawyer, the father asked the court to modify the judgment. He asked this a year after the divorce. This was to have the mother pay child support because he claims to have suffered a serious injury, which lowered his income significantly. In his petition, he alleged that the child’s needs also increased, and the mother’s financial status has improved. In response, the mother said she was the one entitled to receive child support after the time-sharing was adjusted. The mother filed a motion for summary judgment, and a hearing officer recommended that it should be granted and to have the father pay $182 for should support. The Circuit Court adapted the recommendation and denied the father’s motion to vacate.

The case was submitted to the Court of Appeals for review. For a summary judgment to be allowed, the court says there should be no disputed issues of material fact and the party asking for it is entitled as a matter of law. In this case, the father did not meet the requirements. The decision was based on the assumption that a parent spends a substantial amount of time with the child. Meaning, the time spent is at least forty percent of the overnights per year. The parent’s agreement was already such, and that cannot be disputed, said a New York Visitation Lawyer.

Published on: November 24, 2011

Law Students try to make a difference in Child Support and Custody cases

by Stephen Bilkis

A group of students in Orange County, Florida have taken the law into their own hands, and they just might win. The students are Law Students at FAMU, studying with a prominent New York City Family Lawyer, and they have developed the bill as a forward-thinking response to child support issues in the state of Florida.

Statistically, almost 20,000 children make their way into the foster system in the state of Florida each year, most being removed from parents by the state Department of Human Resources. This volume of people creates a tangible burden on the state of Florida, one which the New York Family Lawyer and his students think that absentee parents should help to shoulder.

Essentially, the bill drafted by the students re-configures the way that forced removals are considered under the law, and applies the same rules as those that apply during custody and support hearings for custodial parents. Parents of children who have been removed from their homes would be required to pay a sort of “child support”, said the Long Island Child Support Lawyer.Opponents of the bill claim that the new system would be unethical, similar to charging “rent” to incarcerated prisoners. They also claim that placing additional financial hardship on families who could not properly care for their children in the first place can only make matters worse. The bill’s authors have claimed that the bill will contain language which allows for indigent parents, and those truly unable to pay, to apply to have the fee waived.

Published on: July 30, 2011

Child Support Hearing

by Stephen Bilkis

A child support hearing was held in Atlanta Georgia in late January, in the wake of the brutal murder of the child’s mother in the spring of 2009, said a New York Family Lawyer with knowledge of the case.

The boy’s parents, who the New York Family Lawyer said were involved in a protracted custody dispute, were making a routine custody exchange in the parking lot of a Target chain store in Snellville, Georgia in April of 2009 when the murder occurred. Investigators said that the boy was present at the scene, and hid in his mother’s parked car at the time of the incident.

Present at the child support hearing, which took place on Monday, January the 31st, were the child’s father, as well as the parents of the child’s deceased mother. This hearing comes close on the heels of a custody trial for the boy, which took place in June of 2010 and awarded custody of the boy to the mother’s parents. It is not known why custody was not awarded to the father. In Manhattan and Queens, the mother is usually awarded custody.

Published on: June 23, 2011

A scam involving child support reported

by Stephen Bilkis

In Texas, child support payments didn’t make it to the receiver because of a child support scam that has three main suspects. The three have plead guilty to the crime of Child support payment mail fraud and aggravated identity theft last Tuesday. They worked for a company that does processing of child support payments for the state of Texas, reported a N York Family Lawyer. They face 20 years in prison for these charges.

Thirteen are involved in this case but three have already plead guilty. The child support payments were made with Affiliated Computer Services who had an 18.2 million dollar contract to make payments to Texans in the form of Texas debit cards. The 13 people accused took advantage of this contract and used the debit cards to buy themselves things. They gave these Texas debit cards to friends. They friends then bought things for the accused using the debit cards.

Xerox recently bought out Affiliated Computer Services. This new company paid back the debit card victims $275,000, according to the US attorney generals office.