Single Parents
christine_marie
member
Options
What's next?
christine_marie
member
I filled out the paperwork from Job and Family Services to get child support established. The paperwork says I will get a written notice in less than 20 days. What happens after that? Do we go to court? Am I going to need a lawyer? Or is it really just as simple as filling out the paperwork? I have no idea how any of this works and I'd hoped I would never have to find out.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: What's next?
What is your backstory? Were you married? If not, has your X established paternity? That kind of history really depends on how we can help to answer your question.
In my situation (going through divorce), yes, it was just as simple as filling out the paperwork. The courts take care of the rest of it for you -- trust me. You don't have to do anything else. Just sit back and wait to start (hopefully) receiving payments.
We were not married (engaged, but I know that doesn't really matter for this). X signed the birth cert so yes paternity has been established (Right?) I really don't think he's going to put up a fight, he has been giving me cash each week. Do you think they will make him pay back support? I really don't want that but I've heard that could happen.
Did he sign an affidavit of paterinty? Otherwise, a signature on the BC doesn't count unless you were married...which in your case you stated you aren't.
The Courts will guide you through the process for your state. When you get the letter/packet in the mail for when your court date is make sure you bring EVERYTHING they ask for and be there early.
Some states go back to date of birth for CS, some go to date of separation and my state and others go by date of filing for CS to start the accrual process. At the very least you just started the arrcuing of CS I like to this of the accruing process like this:
We were in the same situation and also in Ohio. Not married, he signed the BC and affidavit of paternity at birth. He had been paying me cash for 3 years, though less than half of what the state ordered.
I filed for CS and we each received a notice, with a meeting date with a counselor. Also a list of what to bring... W-2s, 3 years of tax returns, daycare costs and medical insurance costs.
At the meeting, the counselor took our paperwork and figured our joint yearly income, then looked on a table to find the cost of raising two kids on that joint income in Ohio (like $14k). She then multiplied that $14k by our percentage of the income (him 45%, me 55%) and that is what we are each responsible for. Since I'm the custodial parent (we had agreed on that), she then took his $6,300ish and added half of the cost of daycare (she even added in extra for the summer when they're both in full-time care), and gave him a credit for what he pays for their insurance at work, coming up with an annual amount he will pay.
She didn't give us a final number at the meeting, but less than a week later we both received paperwork with the calculation and a monthly number he was responsible for paying ($899). He continued to pay me cash directly each week, though he should have paid the state and let them forward it to me so it was in the system. This put him in arrears. It took 4 weeks for his work to start taking it out of his paychecks, and I started getting checks in the mail. I switched to direct deposit immediately and now I get the money the same day the state gets it from his paycheck.
He really wasn't 4 weeks in arrears though as he had been paying me directly, so when they pulled that money from his federal income tax refund and sent it to me, I just gave it back to him.
Ohio has an online site where you can log in and see the last payment they received from him and the last distribution they made to you. I frequently request detailed statements from my county though because I like seeing everything laid out.
Oh and the back support? Our counselor was not happy to hear that he had been paying only $400/mo in support of his two children for the past 3 years. She said that that is not their jurisdiction though, that I would need to take him to juvenile court for the back support. She gave me phone numbers and contacts to do that before we even got started with the calculations. That kind of put ex in his place and he didn't argue about anything the entire meeting, knowing that I really could go back (he didn't think I could.)
Let me know if you have any other questions! It was really an easy process in my experience.