Texas Child Support Legal Questions

If there was a child support order through the Texas Attorney General because the children were on any type of public assistance, she could not have waived the money owed to the state. She could certainly waive child support owed to her. If she did not pursue child support and there was no order, she cannot go back to try to collect it. But you have to know whether the children were on any state aid and whether the state has been trying to collect support from you.... Read More

It sounds like they may have gotten a default judgment against you. That judgment may say that you're the father. You should act quickly to see if you can get DNA testing done to find out if you're the father. Your friend's affidavit won't be enough. You need scientific proof of paternity. If you don't act soon, it could be too late, so either talk to an attorney, legal aid, or go to this site to get the process started as soon as possible: www.texaslawhelp.org.    ... Read More

If you have court-ordered child support, he also probably has a possession schedule. Based on the information you've provided, it's very unlikely that he will be able to change where the child lives. When you consider what a Court would do in a family law case, think about what is in the best interest of the child. Would it be in a child's best interest for a court to send a 6 month old baby to live with a man who has only seen her 3 times? The answer is a very clear "No."  It sounds like the father is making idle threats. However, be sure to continue allowing him access to the child. Otherwise, he could start building a case against you.  The best plan of action is to build a co-parenting relationship with him that allows the child to know both of you. Your relationship with the father may have failed, but the two of your produced a baby together so you'll have to figure out a way to work together in parenting.... Read More

The same child support order will remain effective until someone files a modification to get it changed. The law would allow him an offset because he has the two boys; however, he needs a new order saying that. You're not obligated to file the modification. The main problem you may have is that he could ask for retroactive offset back to the day the boys moved in with him. But that's if he even files for a modification.... Read More

A custodial parent can release the other parent from child support obligations owed to the custodial parent. However, if any money is owed to the state, that cannot be released by the parent. The Attorney General can do the paperwork for the release of the child support. A parent can forgive arrears as well as stop current child support as long as the child or parent is not receiving government assistant.... Read More

Your child support is based on your income. If you set up your business as an LLC or Corporation, the business will pay you a salary and that's what your child support would be based upon. However, if you set up the business as a D/B/A, you would basically pay child support based on the business income. (It's better to set up the business as its own entity, preferably an LLC taxed as an S-Corp, because you would save on taxes.)... Read More

First, your husband should open a case in family court so that he can get a DNA test ordered by the Court. After that, if he is the father, whether he would be responsible for back child support depends on when he had reason to believe the child was his. In this case, a good argument could be made that he should only start paying child support after the tests results come back and they show he is the father. Based on what you say, the mother clearly kept the information from him so he had no reason to believe he was the father. Plus, the mother was not trying to get him to support the child, based on what you know at this point. Your husband has a right to get a paternity test, but he has to file a lawsuit in order to do so. Child support is an issue that would be determined once he knows whether he is the father.... Read More

You can either hire an attorney or ask the Attorney General for services in order to get a child support order in place. No one will be able to make him see the child, though. However, you can use his lack of visitation to ask for more child support. There's no guarantee that you'll get extra, but I have seen judges consider the issue. If he's not taking the child during his time, that means you're paying for the child's needs during the time when the father should be doing so. That's a good argument to ask for child support to be set at higher than guideline support.... Read More

You should both go to the child support office and let them know you live together. However, if the child is on Medicaid, the case was probably initiated by the Texas Attorney General. That issue will need to be addressed in some way. The state is trying to get reimbursed from the father for the medical assistance it's providing to your child.... Read More

Has your child been on CHIPS or Medicaid? If so, the State of Texas may be trying to get reimbursed from the father for those health care costs. If the children have not been on CHIPS or Medicaid or some other assistance, you should be able to terminate the process at court. Be sure that you both attend so the AG and the judge knows that you both agree. Even if there has been state aid, you could prove that one of your have the child on private insurance and the case could also be terminated for that reason. ... Read More

Depending on when the order was issued, he may be able to get a new trial. It sounds like the Court issued a default judgment. He needs to look at the court documents and see how they say they served him with notice of the hearing or if they even served him. That will help determine his remedies.... Read More