Child Support

I have been separated since November of 2007. We have a legal separation agreement and
custody papers which say we have joint custody of our son. We alternate weeks. I have spent
close to $25,000 on a lawyer and still can’t get my divorce. She has on several occasions
blatantly ignored court appearances and orders which cost me money to pursue. She has
continuously refused mediation, always saying that she can’t afford her portion, even though it
was court mandated. I could no longer afford to keep my attorney.

When we were married, I took out a loan to help her start a cleaning business. At the time of the
separation, she had at least 15 clients and was making at least $30 an hour. Which exceeds my
income. She has been claiming that she no longer cleans and does not have that business any
longer which I know to be false. She claims she works at Goodwill, part-time, and makes
approximately $850 per month gross. Which she does but that’s not the whole truth.

She has now gone to the Child support Enforcement agency to come after me for child support. I
have 50% custody , pay for our son’s insurance, medications, clothing needs, supplies for school
including a laptop and musical instrument that he needs to have for school, and all of his
recreations i.e., baseball, soccer, and Boy Scouts.

The bottom line is she does not report her actual income. It seems very unfair that she can get
away with this and still sue me for child support. What recourse do I have? Do I need to rehire
my attorney or will I be able to deal with Child Support Enforcement agency by myself?

You can deal with CSE yourself, but I would recommend you meet with your lawyer if you believe your spouse is concealing her income.