Dual Wage Attachments

North Carolina Divorce Law Divorce and Separation Answers
1

All of the evidence you listed will be admissible in the hearing, however if there is a certified form available detailing the amount that has been withheld, you should have a copy of that sent directly to NC CSE and a copy sent to yourself.

Unfortunately, you will not receive credit for the payments made directly to your son.

The amount of interest owed may be recalculated.

Helena M. Nevicosi
Attorney with Rosen Law Firm

4101 Lake Boone Trail, Suite 500
Raleigh, North Carolina 27607
919.787.6668 main phone
919.787.6361 main fax

Charlotte Office
301 McCullough Drive
Suite 510
Charlotte, NC 28262
Main Phone: (704)307.4600
Main Fax: (704) 9343.0044

Durham & Chapel Hill Office
1829 East Franklin Street
Building 600
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
(919) 321.0780

The response posted above is based upon the limited factual information made available and is not intended as a full and complete response to the question. The only reliable manner to obtain complete and adequate legal advice is to consult with an attorney, fully explain your situation, and allow the attorney sufficient opportunity to research the applicable law and facts required to render an accurate opinion. The basic information provided above is intended as a public service only, a full discussion with an attorney should be undertaken before taking any action. The information posted on this forum is available for public viewing and is not intended to create an attorney client relationship with any individual. These answers are provided for informational purposes only, a person should consult with their own individual legal counsel before taking any action that could affect their legal rights or obligations.

2

Thank you for the reply.

As I mentioned, I filed a motion to modify child support arrears set during a 12/20/07 hearing. I did not appear at that hearing, since I reside in KY. The NC hearing on my Motion to Modify will be 3/13/08.

I’ve had no response from the NC CSE Agency case worker after I provided all the information on the TX wage attachments, so I have no idea what the NC CSE will do before or at the 3/13/08 hearing.

Will it be necessary for me to appear at the hearing, either given that I filed the motion myself or to make certain that some kind of evidence for my TX wage attachments is actually admitted in court?

A copy of the Motion to Modify was sent to my ex-wife and to the NC CSE Agency. It is my understanding that the CSE Agency and their attorney are required to appear at the 3/13/08 hearing.

Aren’t these matters normally handled administratively state to state and within the NC ACTS system, so that a court hearing is not necessary?

3

If the hearing is held you will need to appear or hire an attorney to appear on your behalf. It is very likely that you will not hear anything from CSE prior to the hearing.

These issues are generally handled administratively, or would have been handled during the hearing on 12/20. Your failure to appear at that hearing might be part of the issue you are experiencing now.

Helena M. Nevicosi
Attorney with Rosen Law Firm

4101 Lake Boone Trail, Suite 500
Raleigh, North Carolina 27607
919.787.6668 main phone
919.787.6361 main fax

Charlotte Office
301 McCullough Drive
Suite 510
Charlotte, NC 28262
Main Phone: (704)307.4600
Main Fax: (704) 9343.0044

Durham & Chapel Hill Office
1829 East Franklin Street
Building 600
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
(919) 321.0780

The response posted above is based upon the limited factual information made available and is not intended as a full and complete response to the question. The only reliable manner to obtain complete and adequate legal advice is to consult with an attorney, fully explain your situation, and allow the attorney sufficient opportunity to research the applicable law and facts required to render an accurate opinion. The basic information provided above is intended as a public service only, a full discussion with an attorney should be undertaken before taking any action. The information posted on this forum is available for public viewing and is not intended to create an attorney client relationship with any individual. These answers are provided for informational purposes only, a person should consult with their own individual legal counsel before taking any action that could affect their legal rights or obligations.

4

Thanks again.

As I will represent myself, any tips or referrals on court procedure would be greatly appreciated.

5

You may want to check the local rules section of www.nccourts.org and see if any rules apply for the county where you will be appearing on the child support matter.

Helena M. Nevicosi
Attorney with Rosen Law Firm

4101 Lake Boone Trail, Suite 500
Raleigh, North Carolina 27607
919.787.6668 main phone
919.787.6361 main fax

Charlotte Office
301 McCullough Drive
Suite 510
Charlotte, NC 28262
Main Phone: (704)307.4600
Main Fax: (704) 9343.0044

Durham & Chapel Hill Office
1829 East Franklin Street
Building 600
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
(919) 321.0780

The response posted above is based upon the limited factual information made available and is not intended as a full and complete response to the question. The only reliable manner to obtain complete and adequate legal advice is to consult with an attorney, fully explain your situation, and allow the attorney sufficient opportunity to research the applicable law and facts required to render an accurate opinion. The basic information provided above is intended as a public service only, a full discussion with an attorney should be undertaken before taking any action. The information posted on this forum is available for public viewing and is not intended to create an attorney client relationship with any individual. These answers are provided for informational purposes only, a person should consult with their own individual legal counsel before taking any action that could affect their legal rights or obligations.

6

After my son reached the age of majority, my ex-wife had my wages attached simultaneously in two states (TX and NC) for one year’s non-payment on a voluntary child support agreement I originally filed in NC.

I managed to get my employer here in KY to contact TX and stop payment to them, but the NC order establishing the NC wage attachments did not credit me for any of the TX payments.

I filed a motion in Carteret County, NC to modify my child support order and went to court on 3/13/08 to get credit for payments I made in TX and to show that the arrears amount set at a December '07 hearing was incorrect . The case was continued until 4/10/08.

I assumed that if I had all the proof of my wage attachments in TX and payments to my ex-wife under the original order, that an order would be entered setting the correct arrears and giving me credit for the TX wage attachments.

I met before court with the NC CSE agent, who told me that I was only being given credit for two of the eight payments I made via wage attachments in TX. The eight attachments totaled $2,953.84

The judge told me that he was a friend of my ex-wife and gave me the opportunity to have another judge hear the motion. Mistakenly, I assumed that the documentation I had would be sufficient to prove my case, and declined to have him recuse himself.

The NC CSE attorney told the judge that the matter would be “highly contested”, and a trial began. I was unprepared and did not have access to the affadavit my ex-wife had signed, which might have shown me how the arrears were incorrectly calculated. I did not know the right questions to ask of the CSE agent or my ex-wife, and the CSE agent just kept saying that the affadavit was correct.

The arrears were apparently modified, but only by about $300, after taking into account the payments I’ve made in NC since the NC wage attachments began in January '08.

The online account system shows that I still have not been given credit for the TX wage attachments and have also not been given credit for one of the NC wage attachments.

Can I appeal the arrears set at the hearing on my motion to modify?

Can I direct my employer stop payment when the total arrears amount on the court order have been paid?

How do I get the NC CSE agent to ultimately credit all my TX wage attachments? Does TX need to provide some kind of documentation to NC?

Should I be talking to TX about this?

7

Your employer will not stop the withholding at your direction, they will only do so when directed by CSE.

You may be able to appeal but the time period is very short. You may want to consult with an attorney to review your draft order.

Helena M. Nevicosi
Attorney with Rosen Law Firm

4101 Lake Boone Trail, Suite 500
Raleigh, North Carolina 27607
919.787.6668 main phone
919.787.6361 main fax

Charlotte Office
301 McCullough Drive
Suite 510
Charlotte, NC 28262
Main Phone: (704)307.4600
Main Fax: (704) 9343.0044

Durham & Chapel Hill Office
1829 East Franklin Street
Building 600
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
(919) 321.0780

The response posted above is based upon the limited factual information made available and is not intended as a full and complete response to the question. The only reliable manner to obtain complete and adequate legal advice is to consult with an attorney, fully explain your situation, and allow the attorney sufficient opportunity to research the applicable law and facts required to render an accurate opinion. The basic information provided above is intended as a public service only, a full discussion with an attorney should be undertaken before taking any action. The information posted on this forum is available for public viewing and is not intended to create an attorney client relationship with any individual. These answers are provided for informational purposes only, a person should consult with their own individual legal counsel before taking any action that could affect their legal rights or obligations.

8

I filed a Voluntary Support Agreement in Nov., 2005 and paid directly to my ex-wife until she tried to send my son to a boarding school in Jul., 2006.

My son was sent to TX at that time, although I had hoped that he might want to live with me or that he could be emancipated so that I could pay him support directly.

I stopped making payments to my ex-wife, realizing that I probably would not get credit for payments outside the Voluntary Support agreement, and began paid my son directly. He lived on his own in TX until he turned 18 in Aug., 2007, then returned to NC.

My ex-wife got a driver’s license in TX, and with the help of her sister-in-law in the TX OAG, initiated wage attachments in TX that began in Oct., 2007. She then returned to NC.

After returning to NC, my ex-wife opened a IV-D case in NC, and wage attachments were initiated in NC in Jan., 2008. I succeeded in preventing my employer from paying both TX and NC for the same order, and am now paying an increased monthly amount on arrears in NC that includes interest.

The arrears set at the NC hearing did not credit me for the TX wage attachments, although the NC CSE agency case worker had received information from me beforehand about the TX wage attachments and despite the original hearing being continued “to verify additional payments”.

I have filed a motion to modify, asking for credit for the TX wage attachments. A hearing is set for Mar., 08. I will represent myself.

Will employer pay stubs, TX OAG website printouts of account arrears balance, monthly account statements from the TX OAG, or email from my employer listing the TX payment information be sufficient in court, or will I need some kind of “certified payment statement” that is normally obtained from TX by a NC child support agent?

Is there any chance that I could receive credit for direct payments to my son?

Will interest (6%, I believe, in NC) on the arrears, if reduced for the TX attachments (and possibly the direct payments), be recalculated based on what should have been the lower arrears amount resulting from my being given credit for the TX wage attachments before the effective date of the NC wage attachments?

Thanks