QUESTION
Is it possible to get joint custody if we still owe back child support?
Asked on Sep 26th, 2013 on Child Custody - Iowa
More details to this question:
At the time of his divorce, my husband was in the military. Because of the nature of his assignment (combat communications, which has a high number of deployments), his ex-wife was given primary custody. When he was discharged due to medical reasons, we were unable to find work, and we were homeless for a few months. We contacted the CSC in Des Moines to see about halting or reducing child support, but we were told we had to be in the same financial situation for 90 days and expect to be in the same financial situation for another 90 days in order to do that. They also said that would result in automatic enforcement, with wage garnishes for all the back owed support and current support rate. So we made what payments we could after taking multiple jobs, because we couldn't afford the fees. We made it through, and we can now afford a lawyer to get the payments reduced, but we still owe support from when we had no income. Can we still get joint custody?
1 ANSWER
Criminal Law Attorney serving Iowa City, IA
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Dai Gwilliam Attorney at Law
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Yes it should still be possible - especially since there are reasons why the support was not paid. The court does not make a direct connection between the payment of child support and the care and custody of a child. Although sometimes non-payment of child support can be used as evidence of a lack of interest in the child's well-being - but not in your case, I think. There are a lot of factors that a court must consider in order to change the physical care of a child and I can't predict what the outcome might be without knowing more about your situation. But the fact that you may be or have been behind in child support shouldn't play a big part in the decision. The more important issue is the relationship between father and child, so I would urge your husband to spend as much time as he can with the child.
Answered on Sep 26th, 2013 at 5:02 PM