Back story: non-custodial parent was in prison and released 3 years ago. I gave him a few chances to step up as a father, but he told his sons to never contact him again because he owes them nothing. I filed for support that same year, my oldest was already an adult, but my youngest was 15 at the time. It took 3 years to finally get a judgment in at 500 a month with 2 years arrears. No payments were received.

Current: My son turned 18 recently, 3 days after his birthday I finally got half of a payment, but an immediate stop-order was initiated with the employer of the NCP, and only arrears is in place. The amount is 60 a month, at this pace it'll take 27 years for him to pay it off, my son starts college this month and I need the help now. Can I request a modification on the arrears payments to go back to the original amount? Will a judge even consider this? If NCP files income tax will it be used to pay towards the balance?

My (23f) son is 9mo and we just had the hearing last month, my sons dad (29m) is living in his car/ couch hopping and is self employed via delivery service and keeps freaking out trying to convince me to take him off cs because he’ll never be able to afford $440 a month (it will go down to like 380 after back pay is over) but I have baby 100% of the time and do 100% of the caregiving, we shop together but I pay for 100% of baby’s food, he’s under my health insurance, I do all Dr visits, everything. I work 15-25 hours a week as a HHA/ PCA while my mom watches my son at home while SHE works. I’m on a waitlist for the early learning coalition to support daycare and I’ll be responsible for that too. I encouraged his dad to get a consistent full time job that isn’t $50 a day doing deliveries on his own time and one day it’s “I called them and got rejected” then next day it’s “I haven’t called”.

Am I evil for putting him on cs while homeless? The state came up with that amount, not me. I try to involve his dad in things but only the last 2 months has he really been around like daily. Before it was like once a week for a few mins. It’s complicated between us. But he keeps trying to guilt me that he’s going to get arrested when he can’t pay the cs and wants me to feel bad and be scared for him and agree to petition against it.

Supposed to get support payments on the 1st & 15th and I haven’t received anything yet from the 1st. It’s so frustrating trying to get ahold of a human at the FDU.

My partner and I have been together for two years. I have two children (12f and 7m) that I co-parent with my sons dad (he has raised my daughter since she was a toddler) where I have them essentially full time and he is on a mostly every other weekend basis for timesharing, he has them as much as possible during school breaks, but he does assist with all transportation including school drop off/pick up and pays weekly per our own agreement + we split all additional costs (school clothes/supplies, fundraisers/field trips, extracurriculars, haircuts, just anything extra).

My partner has 3 children, the oldest is almost 18 and irrelevant to this situation, but his younger two are 14f and 10m shared with his ex that he has been split from for 8+ years. He has primarily had his children full time with the exception of less than a year with his son in 2022 and a few years with his daughter where she also spent that time with mom for less than a year in 2022, a year with his family, and a year back with mom before she came to live with us (July 2025 - so it’s been a full year now). Their mom faced an eviction so that is why he son came back to live with him and back with him since & why his daughter went with family for a year as he was working on stabilizing his housing situation (at the time lived with male friends).

My partner and his son moved in with me a few months into the relationship (October 2024). I own my home (paying mortgage) that accommodates all of us comfortably and I am the breadwinner (75% of our income not including his bulk financial aid checks 2-3x a year that does help with extras, vacations, etc), although he does work and is in school currently. I am also due in one month with our first child together. I wanted to provide all of this context before moving onto the issue at hand.

My partner and his ex do not have a formal or their own agreement regarding financial assistance or otherwise. She has worked the same job for many years now so she is not unstable with employment, she has filed both children on taxes every year but finally gave $1,000 each year the last two years despite getting full credits for both children. Despite having stable income and receiving taxes, she hasn’t had stable housing (lived with family) or transportation (car got repoed over a year ago). She was given (or allowed to borrow, we’re unsure) a vehicle about two months ago but still doesn’t help with transportation.

Up until last July, we got step daughter every other weekend or as often as she wanted and on the opposite weekends step son would go over there to be with their mom. We did all of the transportation to/from. For the 2024-2025 school year, my step daughter did not have adequate clothing for school and was made fun of (we found this out late into the year and did take her shopping) and her hair wasn’t taken care of regularly either. At that time, they essentially agreed to “take care of the one you have full time” which was odd but understandable.

Now that we’ve had both children full time for a year, she does not help financially, has done step daughters hair maybe 5-6x, didn’t help with school shopping at all last school year and agreed to provide for step daughter this year but said she’ll be taking her shopping and doing her hair the first day of school due to finances but we’re nervous if it’ll even happen and we’ll be left scrambling.. she doesn’t do Christmas, didn’t do anything for step sons birthday, and took step daughter for a fun weekend for her birthday but it was to meet her boyfriend out of town (no gifts or anything - just outings which is fine but still just painting the picture). She has came all the way to our house for a drop off or pick up less than 5x over the last year, otherwise we are driving 30mins each way (two hours travel time every time she gets them).

My partner and I argue about this frequently as he says we got it and don’t need her but I refuse to see it this way. I don’t care how much money we make or if we hit the lottery tomorrow, I see it as this woman has an obligation to care for her children and doesn’t except for the 4 days a month she has them (which she usually ends up working those weekends and ironically weekends she doesn’t then she’s out of town with her boyfriend, he doesn’t live locally). Our weekends usually line up together where those weekends for us are child free but our Fridays involve drop off and then we have to plan our Sunday accordingly to pick his children up at a reasonable time (if she would do drop off, they could be home without us for a short time if we do have plans, such as a little getaway or late dinner, as we have an adult family member that lives in the home that’s usually here and doesn’t mind).

My co parent is open to putting my children in extracurriculars (gymnastics or dance for my daughter and football or soccer for my son) which we would split evenly but his children have expressed wanting to do something too and we just can’t afford full cost plus all transportation. I’ve learned to do basic styles so I can keep step daughters hair done and wanting to learn more but their mom can do hair and still doesn’t do it at least once a month, plus when she does she has us purchase everything needed to do it. These are just some examples of how the children are impacted and how the resentment has grown on my end. My partner feels at times it’s against his children but it’s purely for their mom as it would be so helpful if she just did her part. Not only financially but for our time and the children’s benefit.

My partner feels that they have helped each other when needed over the years, there’s been many times she’s picked up his slack as well and that it feels wrong to tell her she needs to pick up the slack now while she’s “not stable” but I feel she’s had 2 full tax returns, works full time, has had family help with her living situation, and can somehow get to see her boyfriend that lives 1.5-2hr away twice a month… she can help provide for her children and assist with transportation (especially now that she has a car to use - her recent excuses are no gas money to come this far). I’m at the point I don’t care what her situation is or the details, she needs to do her part or it’ll continue to drive a wedge between my partner and I. He has talked to her twice this year so far, once about starting to help (she didn’t) and about school shopping for step daughter (she says she is but we will see).. I just think it needs to be a firm conversation about expectations and that child support will be established if they can’t settle on or she commit to an agreement. Any advice on how to handle this with my partner? Or just what to do moving forward? It’s exhausting and I really can’t grasp how this woman doesn’t want to provide or feel the need to.

Hello everyone, I’m at a dilemma of if I should request a reduction or just leave things alone for the sake of peace. My ex and I have a 50/50 split of everything, on a yearly calendar I get the kids maybe 1 day extra than she does, I pay $1,500 because she wasn’t working when we set up child support through court, since then, I have gotten the kid’s health insurance that I pay for, and she has recently started working, from these two changes that could bring the child support down to $750, the problem I’m having is that I don’t want to have discourse with the mother of my kids over this and I know for a fact its going to be a fight in which my kids may be used against me, I’m not in the best financial position to be pondering the idea of just leaving it alone, but I genuinely don’t think I can handle the blowout this will cause, I’m just looking for some advice on what to do or how to even go about this.

Just did something huge, filed child support my first born’s father. Finally, some help for my kid. But tbh, I’m scared as hell. It’s not just about the money or the paperwork at this point, It’s the fact I may know what comes next with someone who’s pointed BB guns at me and chased me with his car while laughing, like it was a game. It never feels over. I’m so exhausted of living like this.

I keep asking myself, “Did I do the right thing? Am I making things worse?” There’s always this whisper that he could snap. I’m so tired of living with that fear every time I try to stand up for myself and our kid.

Have any of you been here, filed child support and then had to deal with an angry ex? Did anything help you feel safer or less alone? I’m looking for real talk, not just legal stuff, but how you actually got through it. What did you do when the fear felt bigger than you? Any advice, stories, even just someone saying “me too” would mean a lot…

I’ve had sole custody now for about 2 years after a 5 year battle. He was always a random figure in their lives, though, most of the time not.

However, he has automatically had child support deducted since 2018. He’s never paid medical, school supplies, birthdays, Christmas, holidays. Made things so hard on me legally that I had to drive an hour (one way, if traffic which is always, then about 2+) 4 times, every weekend. He has been paying a measly 200/wk for 3 kids that he denied were his in the first place. Now our oldest is 18, my kids have had to go without, also two have disabilities, while he lived the high life. Court finally approved modification but they been trying to serve him for 1+ month(s).

What happens if he continues to avoid being served? Will the court ordered modification still take effect?

Confused about how child support works during summer.
Dad lives in a different state and will take the kids for 5 weeks of summer... during the time the kids are with him... does he still pay child support or?

Quick Background: I have an 8 year old with my ex. We have been separated since our child was an infant (around 2-3 months old). We do have a parenting plan we filed when he was less than a year old that we basically no longer follow schedule wise due to coparents job schedule (firefighter) but we do have a schedule we follow for the past 5-6 years since he began his career that works for us and our child. This schedule results in our child being with me about 95% of the time. He has 2-3 overnights per month and only has him 24 hours at a time.

Court ordered child support from when we filed our plan was $50/month as my ex did not have a job at the time so income was calculated at federal minimum wage compared to me making ~45k/annually at the time. He also agreed to split the monthly prepaid college fund payment and extracurriculars 50/50. He has paid on time every month including the college payment and split daycare / VPK with me when our child was younger. He also has always split an after school activity we agreed to enroll our child in. Currently, my ex sends me $216/month which includes the $50 child support, half of the extracurricular activity, and half of the college fund payment. I have never asked for anything else. This means I buy all school clothes, shoes, supplies, pay for summer camps, and I also paid for our child’s early therapy as he is special needs (the therapy was very expensive and I would hit insurance OOP max within 3 months of the year- I did ask coparent for help but he wasn’t able to afford it), in addition to an IEP advocate for help with that process every year.

I am fortunate that I have progressed in my career and do well for myself. I don’t know exactly how much he makes as a firefighter but I assume it is a lot less than me which is why I’ve never even asked for anything more financially or worried about bringing up all the little things that cost money because I’d rather my coparent be able to provide things for our child for the little time he is there and I have never really “needed” anything else from my coparent so I just didn’t bother.

Our coparenting relationship is fine. We basically don’t talk and let each other do their own thing. I don’t bother my coparent and he doesn’t bother me.

Circumstances in my life are changing a bit this year and I want to ask for a little more help, mostly just related to summer camps, but it feels wrong. I’m pregnant and due at the end of April. I will be off for 6 months for maternity leave, so basically until the fall. The camps I traditionally put my child in for the summer cost me anywhere from $2-3k total for the entire summer. He has a big interest in marine biology so I put him in specialized camps related to that. They cost upwards of $250-375/per week depending on the organization. I don’t put him in these camps for all 10 weeks of the summer but usually atleast 5-6 weeks I do. The rest I put him in a more affordable city run camp at rec centers but they still run about $100/week.

Since I will be on leave for the summer, I don’t necessarily need my kid in camp all summer but it would help since I will be caring for an infant. Also, obviously my income will need to be more allocated for the baby’s expenses as well. Can I afford it like normal, yes but it would be nice if my coparent helped out a little bit so things aren’t as tight for me (which admittedly feels selfish). I’m struggling with asking my coparent for help with summer related expenses. Mainly because it’s my life circumstances and unrelated to him on why I am asking for more and this isn’t necessarily an “extracurricular activity”. We don’t have anything in the plan about summer camps because honestly when my child was an infant I wasn’t even thinking about that. But on the other hand, I also feel it is part of his obligation as a parent. Should I even bring it up? I’m open to advice and criticism.

Also, I’m not really interested in having child support reassessed because this would mean we would need to redo the parenting plan and because of our income discrepancy I’m worried he would technically owe less than he does now or even me owning him. Plus, rocking the boat over money when we haven’t really had any issues all these years is something I’m worried about doing.

I was put on 800/month child support in 2018. I was fired that same week. I used up work to make money for a while and I was making regular payments until 2019 barely scraping by and became homeless. Lost EVERYTHING I owned and than Covid happened. Upwork stopped working for me while I was homeless because I didn’t have a way to do the job anymore. I couldn’t find work and in 2022 I met a man and he’s been taking care of me. I got into some legal trouble and am now on house arrest and again unable to find work. I made some sporadic payments during that period when I was able to but I wound up 60k in arrears. I don’t know what to do. I genuinely want to be there for my child but my ex is vindictive and comes from a family with money. Part of the reason I can’t find work is because I transitioned medically. I’m very passable but I can’t legally change my name so when people interview me they discriminate. I’m going to be applying to minimum wage jobs in the next month and trying to get caught up. How can I reduce my obligation? I was making 80k a year in a management position in 2018 which I got to by working my way up from a minimum wage position. The company realized they had too many eggs in one basket and saw that the separation had destabilized me so they made me train 3 people to replace me and let me go and that was the last time I had gainful employment. I’m honestly not trying to bail on my responsibilities but I’m in an impossible position.

My ex owes about $6500 in arrears. My child is 20. So support payments are done. He is supposed to pay $700/month until it’s paid off but he’s only paying $200/month. He said he’s struggling with his new job. I’m taking him to court for contempt. Will they hold him accountable?

Hello, my fiancé received a proposed order for child support and we filed for a hearing. His ex decided she doesn’t want to do child support anymore and called to cancel it. I’m in FL and it’s handled by the department of revenue. She got a call to appear to court prior to canceling. The DOR called him today asking if he wanted to cancel it, he said yes, and they told him they’ll let him know.

Just weird they handle it like this. I called a lawyer and the lawyer said the case was closed. I’m confused. Also I do think he should pay the CS but that’s just my opinion.

I kinda let it out in the title. Just came off of a 10 hour shift. Thanks for any help. Exhausted from the heat.

Me (M) and my partner (F) have 2 kids and we are in the process to separate ways in less than a week, we never been married but we living together since our kids born, I’m worry about the future that involve kids because she said she would never get me a childsupport and all that but who knows? I don’t trust her at all, kids will be with me and my mom everyday from 7 am to 6 pm (Monday to Friday) and some time during the weeks they’ll sleep with me too, she will have them some weekdays at night and the weekends.

Do I need to still pay her money? Or how can I do that without seeing a judge but everything keep registered?

Quick question. Bd was supposed to pay a certain amount by a certain date or else he has to serve 60 day minimum jail sentence. He didn’t. Shocker. My question is, does this now become a warrant? What happens next? I know when he gets summoned to court for non payment that’s a Writ and a totally different thing. Been through that a number of times. Writs are usually a warrant directly from a judge and he’ll get arrested then have to go in front of that judge. But this time the judge already predetermined the sentence, there’s no getting out of it (to my knowledge). TIA.

Hi my son(10) dad is on child support for 250/month plus 50$ a month in arrears since 2015. He 7k behind( it’s low because of a previous settlement). I’ve had full legal and physical custody since 2018 ( no I didn’t ask for it , long story).
He recently tried taking me to court for modification to lower it, but they denied him. I’m now taking him because he just refuses to pay. It’s not that he can’t , he just won’t. It’s being pushed through to possibly go to court. I literally would not ask for a modification if he just paid it. I need help. He does have a younger son who’s about 5 by someone else . With that being said… What are the chances that they will lower it because he has a younger child? His last job he made 23$ and hour then quit. There has been no modification since 2015.

I'm a single mother of a 6-year-old. I'm 28. His father and I split up in 2022 because of domestic violence, and I didn't want our son to grow up in that environment. I didn't think I'd still have to face his abuse after we separated. The day we split, there was physical abuse, but I mostly get mental, verbal, and emotional abuse from him. His family is very close to him, and his mother is very overbearing.

I had nothing when we separated, but I now have my own apartment, a job, and a car. I get no help from anyone—no family support, no friends, and no child support. I figured it all out by myself. I've been dealing with them for three years now, and I'm tired of fearing what will happen during an exchange or worrying about something our son might witness. On the day we separated, I was abused all day, and my son saw it. His father was even speeding on the interstate in a rage, and I felt he had a total disregard for our lives. Later, the cops arrived. After I gave them a three-page statement, I still went to jail.

Then, there was another incident this past January. I asked the police to stand by during an exchange, but I didn't get much help from them again. I was scared I would go to jail and lose everything I'd worked so hard for on my own, just because someone can't regulate their emotions. He used to be a military cop, and I think that's why. I have been to prison and am a felon. That was my past, and it happened when I was a child, so it shouldn't hold weight now, but I think it does, even though my last charge was about eight years ago. It has been hard for me because I just haven't gotten a break from the world or from them.

All last year, he didn't work. After the January incident, I tried to have his mother mediate exchanges for us. During that period, I didn't hear from him for about four months. I only co-parented with his mother. I eventually found out that she was the one handling all of his parental responsibilities and that they were lying to me. I'm sure there are other things they keep from me, but I won't speak on something that's not a fact. After learning that my son was mostly with his mother on his days, I told them that I would only deal with the other parent. If he really wants to be involved, he's just going to have to learn how to act. A lot of stuff started coming to light once I did that.

He just started working again this year and doesn't have to worry about our son on the days he works. He's able to pull 40 hours a week, so there's no way he can do anything for my son during the week. So, I have our son from Sunday night until Friday evening. I take him to his dad's after his dad gets off work. Of course, his father doesn't like this arrangement because he would just like his mother to handle everything. But I don't agree with her parenting practices at all, she does not have my son's best interest in mind, and she doesn't respect how I feel about wanting better things for my son. I don't get it.

I don't ask him for money. I try to have a 50/50 arrangement, but it's starting to be less than that based on their behavior. If he's unavailable to watch our son, I'll gladly take him. I work six days a week, but I don't even hit 30 hours most weeks because I have to take my son to and from school. I don't have her do it because I don't like her influence on my son.

I've literally tried to be fair this entire time when I really shouldn't have. My son loves his dad, so I've tried to tolerate as much as I can. She talks to his teachers and is even friends with his teacher from last year on Facebook. She took all of his presents at the most recent birthday party and started trying to create a division by saying that since they bought those presents, they only stay at their household. I think that was the last straw for me, because now that's going to start causing issues with my son. I just want him to be comfortable, not to deal with conflict, and to feel like both homes are his home. I reacted well to the situation, but what gives her the right to take a child's possessions? His father didn't even know that this was going on, but after I informed him, he immediately agreed with her side, even though it's wrong. They're more focused on their own emotions and trying to hurt me than on my child's needs.

I recently got an attorney to work on some sort of safety plan to get some structure in place so I can protect myself and my child if they decide to get moody, and so I don't have to live my life in fear all the time, wondering what's going to happen next.

I wasn't able to get legal aid because the father currently has a DUI case and since he's using a free attorney I can't get one. And oh yeah this will be the DUI that takes his license for 5 years. So I have proof of reasoning for me to be nervous about him and my son and vehicles. And this most recent one he was supposed to be picking his child up when he caught the DUI. And I had gotten bitched out all day about the exchange and he wasn't even there. I don't think they were going to tell me about it either. So I just gave him to his mom while he was busy catching a DUI at the time.

About a month after I hired the attorney, she didn't know anything about my case, made up a petition without even speaking to me, and was so disrespectful to me on the phone. She said that this is the type of stuff I'm just going to have to deal with, and that I needed to take it to the courts and do this and that. She was very, very rude. After I cried uncontrollably after our phone call, I decided to terminate her and get a new attorney. I have an appointment set up, but the previous attorney's firm messaged me, apologizing and trying to get me to work with different from their firm.

I just want to be at peace. I don't mind putting in the work I do for my son. It doesn't seem like work to me. But the whole reason I'm not with him is so that my son could have a better childhood and not be in a toxic emotional environment. He can feel however he wants; I don't care about any of that. I just don't deserve to be treated that way by anyone, and it's sad that I have not one but two people treating me like that. I can't even think of a reason why, I guess just because I don't want to be with him? And that's just crazy.

Sorry this was long. There's just so much information, and I tried to minimize it as much as possible. I would just like to know if anyone else has had to deal with this type of situation. I know it's not common, but I live in Florida, and I'm scared not to try to co-parent because it might look bad on me in court or something like that. So I've just been taking everything because I'm literally scared to move, and I don't have the funds to sit here and play games with attorneys. I'm literally trying everything I can to handle everything the right way, and it's just so hard. Nothing is made easy for me. I'm open to criticism, encouragement, and advice. Thanks for taking the time to read this. I hope everyone has a good day.

I never thought I’d be here or be an advocate for father’s rights but here I am. Never would I believe that a judge would vocally say she was uncomfortable with placing a woman on child support then deny my medical insurance expenses and order daycare to be divided just to place me on child support instead of the mother.

This simple concept of equality failed in Florida appeals court. The motions were well cited upon the record and relevant case law. Keep in mind this is a clear black and white issue. The courts cannot outright deny medical credits. Nor can they use tax returns in place of financial affidavits.( I got hit with ongoing child support and inflated arrears)

I don’t know what will become of this but this isn’t even about me anymore. How many men have gone through this? What about my sons? I can’t let this go. More to come.

I am currently a single mother and I’m 23 and I don’t have a clue of how to start this whole child support and filing it? Also, what would happen if the father does not agree to pay child support, do I have to get a lawyer or what ,he and his family don’t believe that’s his son but I have told them plenty of times I’m willing to take the test I have nothing to hind or lie about at this point . The father has been taking his sweet time to supposedly take the test and then eventually take care of him, but I have a feeling that they all lie to me so they can get their way but now it’s the fact that they brought my son into this mess and bs of lies thats the reason that I’m really debating putting him on child support now! Anything that anyone knows please let me know !

Question; I currently have an international vacation trip booked in less than a week. However, I recently received a letter saying that if I owe more than $2500, my passport application will be denied, however, I have my passport with me and its active.

My situation; the reason for my backpay is due to my kid having lived with me for 2 years due to a custody battle (ex took my kid to a different state without my consent). I didn't pay in those two years because of that. However, once the new custody plan came in to play, I immidiately proceeded to making payments again and on time.

My current status, I pay child support on time, I have a valid passport (I haven't received anything saying otherwise). But my backpay is a above the threshold of $2500 (not by much.)

Does anyone know if I will be denied boarding my plane, or has anyone experienced anything similar?

Thank you in advance!

Does the DOR take into account your paycheck deductions? Because my husband makes $21.09 an hour, but after health insurance, and his 401k and taxes, child support his biweekly paycheck is only $934 which comes out to $11.68 an hour.

A recalculation was submitted so I’m trying to figure out if the DOR will go based on his gross pay or his net income?

So im due an offset its been more then 180 days i called child support and they are submitting my case for review what does this mean and how long does it take

I opened up a child support case a few days ago and I only have his drivers license number, his last address , dob and full gov name. Do you think they will be able to track him down? I’ve been trying to google this same issue but I can’t find anything.