16, choice and support

#1

i have been divorced for 12 years, have had sole custody all that time and have had modified visitation orders during that time. now my 16 yr old daughter has “moved out” while i was away on business. no discussion. now at dad’s house, says she is not coming home. he wants child support, do i have to pay? i still legally have custody and do not agree with her living with him.

#2

Your ex will need to file for modification of custody before he could get child support, if you have a custody order already in place.
Your daughter, being 16, could likely have some influence over where she wants to live.
Legally, since you have custody, you can take a copy of the order with you, go to his home and contact the police. I believe that she can be forced to move back to your home, but I caution you against this. Though legally it is within your right, it is possible that you will be fighting her, and her father on this.
I would question why you wound not agree to her living with him?

#3

Your husband will have to pursue child support through the courts before you have to pay anything. Normally I encourage my clients to pay child support before the court orders an amount, however this case is different in that you have custody of your daughter, and she moved out without your knowledge or consent while you were away.

#4

[quote=“stepmother”]Your ex will need to file for modification of custody before he could get child support, if you have a custody order already in place.
Your daughter, being 16, could likely have some influence over where she wants to live.
Legally, since you have custody, you can take a copy of the order with you, go to his home and contact the police. I believe that she can be forced to move back to your home, but I caution you against this. Though legally it is within your right, it is possible that you will be fighting her, and her father on this.
I would question why you wound not agree to her living with him?[/quote]

he has a history of being charged with stautory rape, drug use/abuse, as well as irresponsible behavior and unsafe situations for the kids to be in. whilst i dont think she is in immediate danger, i don’t believe it is a healthy environment for her to be in!

#5

I can understand your concern for your daughter, but I still caution against taking drastic measures. At 16, if she is forced to move it’s quite possible that she could leave the home regardless…as in running away.

I assume that he was convincted of statutory rape, and the drug charges, and that these were recent events (within the last 5 years or so). Those would be valid reasons, with proof that it’s still continuing, for the courts to deny him having custody should he attempt to file for modification. If you have court ordered custody and child support, then your ex is still responsible to pay that. You can contact Child Support Enforcement Agency if he fails to pay.
In the mean time, you should inform him in writing that your daughter should be returned to your home and that since you have custody and do not want this change to occur, he will need to file for modification. Until this modification is heard in court, the court order states that your daughter is in your primary custody. And that until that time, child support should continue. This is all providing, as I said, that you can force your daughter to return. If he’s had problems with the law before, it may be a little more convincing to him he could be faced with jail time at least for the child support and possibly failure to comply with a court order.