Child Support Update

It has been a couple of months since I've done a Child Support update. The Child Support office was finally able to help me get several payments in full from my ex-husband, and I was even able to get some extra money to go toward the arrearage on this account. 

However, my ex-husband was furious over the whole situation and ended up quitting one of his jobs where child support was withheld, which not only resulted in my not receiving any child support this month, but also messed up our daughter's health insurance and made it very difficult for me to get her the asthma medicine she needed.

Today I called the child support office and in order for child support to call his employer, he has to have not made any payments in at least thirty days. I have a few more days yet until that happens, so I will wait until the appropriate date and call again.

As I mentioned before, I was able to get some extra money from the arrearage on the account, so the extra money combined with my income from substitute teaching meant that I was able to buy a few things that we needed. 

I was even able to pay cash for everything for Christmas and incurred no debt, which is a very good feeling to me. We may not have very much money right now because of the lack of child support, but the bills are all paid and there is plenty of food here to eat right now, and the gas tank is full. 

To me, that is a pretty good position to be in for now.

Belinda
© Belinda Richardson and Frugal Workshop, 2011.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”

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October 2011 Child Support Update

September has come and gone and as a result I’ve been reviewing my finances. Earlier this month I posted about receiving less child support in August than the court ordered amount. Unfortunately, the child support we received in September was also less than the court ordered amount. 

Fortunately, as I posted about earlier this month, I received my first paycheck of the school year and that has made all the difference this month even leaving us with a little surplus at the end of the month, which is a good thing. 

This week I met with an attorney to discuss the issue of child support. My ex-husband is a hard worker with more than one job and there is just no reason for the child support to be less than the court ordered amount. Unfortunately, he remarried within the last year, which is when the problems began, and my attorney informs me usually when problems with issues like child support start.  My attorney has requested a retainer fee of $750 to take my ex back to court to resolve the issue. 

Fortunately for me I invested in a whole life insurance policy for my daughter when she was young. After speaking with my insurance representative I figured out that I have over $400 in dividends and can borrow the remaining $300+ against the policy to be paid back on my schedule. I made one last attempt to speak with my ex, but that proved to be unfruitful, and honestly, I am tired to asking him to pay what he owes our daughter. At this point in time he is in arrears of over $2,000.  

 I have asked the child support office repeatedly to help me fix this problem, which has also proven to be unfruitful. However, I did make one last attempt yesterday with the child support office to correct the problem. The fact is that if we went back to court, the child support would most certainly be raised, but I do not want to spend $750 for an attorney or go back to court. I have approximately seven to ten days before the check comes from the Insurance company, so that will give me time to see if my last attempt with the child support office fixes the problem. Otherwise, I see no other alternative than to take the issue back to court.

Belinda 

© Belinda Richardson and Frugal Workshop, 2011. 

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”

When the Child Support Doesn't Show Up

I’ve been going over my budget for August and September.  My budget is smaller during the summer months because I have less income due to school being out of session. But in August I had even less income than I originally anticipated because my daughter’s child support was only 50% of what I expected to receive, which made for a rough month budget wise.  

The reality is that child support depends on the non-custodial parent working and that is oftentimes out of your control.  Sometimes even with a court order in effect, child support money may not be paid on time. This lack of payment can hurt the budgets of families who depend on these funds to run their households. 

One strategy to assist families in cases like this is to have a savings account or emergency fund that will cover at least one month’s expenses in case the child support money is not paid in a timely manner.  This is the strategy I was able to use this month. I was able to transfer some money from my savings account, which reinforces to me how important it is to save money because emergencies can happen when we least expect.

With careful planning we were able to withstand the lack of income although spending was down in all categories across my budget. As a result, I only spent $187.36 on groceries in August and $77.38 for gas. From the looks of my pantry we went through a great deal of our food that I had stockpiled, which is another strategy families can utilize as a way to protect themselves from an unexpected drop in income.

 

Belinda 

© Belinda Richardson and Frugal Workshop, 2011. 

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”