Mother Left Children

My ex-wife and her husband separated. We have 3 sons of which I pay CS for all three. She went back to the husband, and because sons did not want to go back into the home, she left them with their grandfather for 3 months without contributing any support what so ever. They are all now back in the home. CS told me that I could file something to be recouped for the monies that she did not use on my sons during this time. Even the grandfather ( her father) was asking her to help with them, to no avail…Please help…Thanks

Child support is money that is being used for the child. It doesn’t matter that a parent doesn’t agree with how the funds are actually being used. The courts won’t micromanage where exactly the child support payments are going. The use of child support funds is at the discretion of the custodial parent.

That being said, you may be able to file a motion for contempt stating that she didn’t use the funds for the children, you would have the burden to prove that she didn’t have custody of the kids nor did she provide them any support. But you would not be entitled to the money; you have been ordered to furnish that amount each month for the benefit of the children. Because the funds are for the benefit of the children, any reimbursement would go to the grandfather for the expenses that he incurred.

You could always file a motion to modify both custody and child support, based on a substantial change in circumstances. The fact that she did not have custody of the children for those 90 days may be grounds to modify one or both.