My Story
This all began when we were divorced. My ex was in serious financial trouble, so we agreed between the two of us that he would pay $425.00 per month until he got on his feet and then he would make full payments ($704/month) and begin catching up on the arrearage. During the first couple of years, he made payments 'hit and miss'.
I have never kept records of what I received. All records should be available through TXCSE, WYCSE and canceled checks from Ron. He has been requested to provide these checks on four different occasions. He has not complied. According to the official records he owes $48,025.84 in arrearages. This does not take into account the payments he made to me directly, but as I pointed out, he refuses to provide that documentation, and frankly, I think 4 years is long enough to wait. He has also received credit for two payments through the TX registry that then bounced. I have the NSF checks in my possession.
After I moved back home to WY, the payments went up to $525.00 per month because my ex insisted I put the kids in private, parochial school. The extra $100.00 was to help cover that cost and was not part of the child support payment. He never did bring the payments up to the amount ordered by the court.
It was not until 1996, that I realized he could indeed afford the full amount, but still had not begun paying it. It was at this time that I contacted WYCSE to enforce the order. (I found out he had bought a brand-new Ford truck and the payments were estimated to be about $500/month. It was at that point, driving the kids around in a 1979 Mazda station wagon, that I realized he could afford the child support, but was refusing to pay it.)
WYCSE began work on my case, but in a couple of years was only able to obtain a little over $400.00 from his tax refund. It was the last time the IRS owed him money that I'm aware of. I understand the problem was that TXCSE had to be involved since it's a TX divorce, and they just weren't interested in helping.
In the spring and summer of 1999, I spoke repeatedly with the Federal Attorney in Casper, WY, about them taking my case. After about four months, they contacted me to let me know that they had reviewed my case and would make a decision in a couple of weeks. They decided not to take it.
The case was transferred back to WYCSE. In the summer of 1999, he moved to CA. Since he was no longer in TX, WYCSE was able to garnish his wages from his employer for double the amount of child support ordered without exceeding the maximum percentage of his income. (Yes, he is capable of making good money.) I received payments until December, 1999, when he moved back to Texas without contacting WYCSE, TXCSE, or myself and the kids. He later (after WYCSE found him) told WYCSE that the main reason he left CA and returned to TX was to get out from under the garnishment.
As soon as I found out he moved back to Texas, I notified WYCSE. They found him in Palestine, TX. (I sent him a letter, overnight and certified, to this PO Box to discuss visitation during our upcoming vacation in Dallas, as well as child support, but the letter came back as "refused".) They also had obtained a physical address for him, but cannot give it to me. Now, TXCSE has to be involved again, according to WYCSE. They say there is not much WYCSE can do except to write a letter to TX asking them to enforce their own order, which they have never done in the past nine years. They did submit an order to withhold to his new employer, but it was denied "because the Texas Attorney General's office was involved" at that point.
In June, 2000, we made a vacation trip to Dallas. While there, I contact the Texas Attorney General's office and was told the following:
1. The wage withholding order had,
indeed, been denied because of the involvement of the AG. Apparently
my ex had issued some kind of complaint about the order to withhold
that would have to be heard before a court.
2. There had been a court date set for May 26th, at which he
had not appeared.
3. They were setting a new hearing, but refused to tell me when
it would be. They said they had copied all that info to WYCSE
and I should contact them for the date.
I called WYCSE who had not received ANY paperwork from Texas. They called to find out why not. They were informed that all of items 1-3 had been a lie. Not only was the Texas AG not involved, but the case had not even been reopened (since it was closed in Oct, 1999, when my ex was in CA). Since January they had requested three times (two letters and one fax) for the case to be reopened, but apparently her requests were ignored. (I have to wonder why the wage withholding order was really denied.)
I have downloaded the TX family statutes and looked them over. It seems to me that not only is my ex breaking the law, but so is TXCSE. They have broken Sec. 158.501 where it seems to say that 'the IV-D agency will issue an administrative writ of withholding….' They have not. I read a 1997 article from the San Antonio newspaper that told about a few people who sued the AG's office for not including interest in the orders.
Since that time, Ron has contacted the children twice. He invited one of the children (but not the other) to visit for a few weeks this past summer. During that time he lied to her repeatedly, including a statement that he would "never try to get custody of her unless she wanted him to." During that visit I was served with custody papers by his attorney. Now neither of the children will even speak to him, they are so angry. All the things he told them I lied about were in fact his own lies, and the kids know it.
Let's not allow these travesties to continue.
