Question:
Here's the Cliff Notes....Divorced July 03 with joint custody of our 3 kids. She requested I take full custody in Dec 03 & I did. She was ordered in June 04 to pay $30/wk in support (she became a stripper w/no traceable income). It's now April 05 and she's NEVER paid a penny of support and is now pregnant (due Nov 05) by her live-in boyfriend and claiming that she can't strip and will be a stay-at-home mom so she cannot pay any support past or future. I have totally been supporting the kids and always let her have visitation (when she shows up) but she is continually given "chances" by the courts at catching up on her delinquent support & 50/50 of medical/dental bills (now totaling $4,000). We go back to court on 4-29-05 and at the last appearance on 3-31-05 she was given another 30 days to pay every week without missing any payments to be reviewed on 4/29 but she has not paid a penny still! The judge told her that she'd better pay and that if she gets cut on her dancing shifts then she'd better get a part time job. She has not announced the pregnancy and I'm anticipating that she will use this on 4/29 when she is found in contempt (once again) of the CS order. Her driver's license has already been suspended so the only other recourse would have to be jail time. She thinks that the pregnancy excuse will excuse her from any support because she will have a new one to support on her own. Is this true? Can she get some sort of doctor's excuse to keep her from working and be excused from supporting the kids? The sick part is that the exotic dance industry is in NO WAY regulated and her income is totally tax free and she has not filed taxes in 2 years but she is getting public aid to pay for the pregnancy!
Answer:
I believe that you have taken the actions that you can take to put the matter properly before the court. The judge provided her with an ultimatum to pay or suffer the consequences. Most courts will stick by their position. The fact that she is in the early stages of pregnancy would not prevent her from working at a part time job that the court recommended. The child support amount is extremely low and she should be capable of meeting that obligation with minimal employment. It is likely the court will throw her in jail.