What rights do I have

1

I am just not sure what rights I have or what I can/can’t do. My current situation…Note: we are divorced and all ED/CS/Custody cases have been completed.

My ex-husband has “willfully abandoned” seeing the children for 20 months and counting and has stopped paying child support for 8 months and counting…with no contact as well. We do not have an order through child support enforcement and to my knowledge he does not have a steady job or one that he receives a regular paycheck (contract work only).

I tried to file a partition due to a lien on the marital property (the ED was vague and does not assign the house to either party) that he has remained living in but the judge denied it due that I have not lived in the house in the time that equity has accrued. He will not be removing my name from the house. I’d rather not do a quit claim deed if I cant get off the loan as well. During the hearing he claimed to have paid off the debt causing the lien, so that is not an issue now.

I do not have any money to hire counsel for child support or custody (which were both originally done in a different county). I suppose my questions are:

If he does not have a steady job are there any grounds to go after child support?
What resources do I have available to obtain free counsel?
If there aren’t any…is it going to hurt me if I do nothing as far as child support or custody in the future?
If at some point he wants to see the children do I have any right to deny him (he has suspicious people living at his residence according to neighbors and has been arrested several times)?
Also…one of my children is a teenager and the other is close…can they refuse to see him?
If I want to move out of state, can I without telling him or if I do can he do anything about it?

It was very upsetting to lose the partition when the attorney I hired told me it would be a sure thing. It was my one chance to try and obtain some money to make up for the lack of child support and to get my name off the house and loan. Now that case is dead in the water. I cannot afford to go after something I have a chance of losing. I suppose I just need to know if I have an absolute chance of succeeding in either custody or child support or both and if its worth trying to go after.

2

Yes, it may still be worthwhile to pursue child support from the father. He has an obligation to provide financial support to his children.

You can go to your county’s child support enforcement agency to establish child support assuming you don’t already have a child support order from another county.

You can also check out our Rosen Online Service, which gives you access to a library of legal forms and you can communicate with an attorney. This service only costs $199/month, and could be a great resource for you to handle your legal issues without spending thousands of dollars retaining an attorney.

It doesn’t hurt you to not pursue child support other than the fact that you could receive financial help for your children and you would be foregoing that. It’s always a good idea to have a custody order in order to prevent the father from picking the children up for a visitation and not returning them or insisting with you that he receive more visitation time than he’s ever had before.

You can deny the father a visitation if the children would be in imminent danger in his care or there would be serious, real safety concerns for the children. Otherwise, you should not withhold the children.

Children and teenagers cannot decide who they will live with or visit until they are 18. Judges sometimes will take the wishes of teenagers and older children into consideration if making a custodial/visitation determination.

You can move out of state, but that could prompt the father to file for an emergency/ex parte custody order. The best way to avoid this is to file a custody action and have a court order with a custody schedule that includes you living out of state prior to actually moving outside of the State of NC.

No attorney can guarantee a result in a custody and child support case. Given that the father has not seen the children in 20 months, you have a very good likelihood that the judge will either not award him visitation or award him a significantly small amount of visitation. Child support is based upon both parties’ incomes. You can see what child support might look like in your situation with our child support calculator.

You may also qualify to file a petition to terminate the father’s parental rights given the fact that he has not seen the children in 20 months nor contributed to their financial support in 8 months, but this would end your ability to receive child support from him.

Anna Ayscue

Attorney with Rosen Law Firm Cary • Chapel Hill • Durham • Raleigh • Wake Forest

Rosen Online | Unlimited confidential access to a North Carolina attorney for $199/mo - click here

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.

3

Thank you very much.

What really concerns me with removal of his rights (and even child support) is I would assume he would be notified/served…and then all of a sudden he decides to see them just because he knows I am pursuing this. Could that keep him from losing custody? This is what he did with the partition. He ignored all notices/servings and paid off the debt at the last minute and won.

Same for child support…we do have an established child support order but he was just paying me directly and it was not filed through CSE. What if I do all that work to go after that and he pays me at the last minute?

It is just my frustration with all of it. Honestly I would prefer to go after removal of custody bc I know his habits are not safe. I know that would negate all child support…which I desperately need but…

Could I possibly go after custody and at least get a back pay of what he owes up until that point?

4

A judge may or may not grant a termination of parental rights if he starts visitations again after being served with the petition.

If you have a custody order now, you can file for a modification of that order if there has been a substantial change in circumstances affecting the wellbeing of the minor children since the current order was entered. You may have enough evidence to have his visitation significantly limited to none at all.

Yes, you can file a contempt motion (motion and order to appear and show cause) for his failure to comply with the child support order and ask that all arrears be paid to you.

Anna Ayscue

Attorney with Rosen Law Firm Cary • Chapel Hill • Durham • Raleigh • Wake Forest

Rosen Online | Unlimited confidential access to a North Carolina attorney for $199/mo - click here

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.