Custody situation question?

Question

I'll make a long story short. I went through an ugly divorce that dragged out over a year. I ended up being awarded full custody. Well during all of this the judge ordered that our son have his own attorney. Now my ex and I are stuck with this bill. It's $6,000 but to be split 50/50. I can't pay this bill. I can't afford this. The crappy thing is, I never requested an attorney for our son, this was something the judge ordered. I spoke to someone at my son's attorneys office and they informed me that if I didn't pay they'd start garnishing my wages. I do have a job but paying $3,000 is NOT in my budget. What would these people do if I didn't work??? I'm a single parent, and on top of that my ex is a dead beat and pays NO child support although it's court ordered. I wanted to know if anyone else has gone through this? Is there a way of being relieved of paying these fees?? My ex doesn't care about any of this because he doesn't work, therefore he's got nothing to worry about. The irony of it all is that the VERY SAME people who were hired to protect my son's rights are now taking from him by asking for money that I don't have.

Answer 1

Take your ex back to court for the child support he hasn't paid.  Judges aren't lenient on people who don't take care of their children.  As to the other lawyer, pay them $10.00 a month.  In that way, you're making an effort and I don't think they can do anything to you.

Answer 2

Talk to the attorney for your son and see if you can make payment arrangements with them.  It would not be the first time that they ran into this situation.

Answer 3

I would find out if you can go to small claims court to sue your ex husband for the full amount since he ISN"T paying child support.

By the way, check with your state and court. I know in California the person who pays child support is registered into a system. If they do not pay, you simply call them. If they do not pay after a certain amount of days, You can have them arrested for not following a court order.

Answer 4

      I am in this same situation for the third time.  My ex keeps suing for custody, although he never gets it, and everytime the judge orders a lawyer for the child.  Check with your court clerk and see if there are forms to fill out for being excused from this bill.  Most larger courthouses have a program to relieve you of this expense if you meet their guidelines.  If not, then pay him $5 a month.  It will cost him more in bookkeeping fees than he is getting, but at least you will be able to prove that you are making a good faith effort to pay the bill.

Answer 5

With a divorce I'm sure you're head over heals in debt.  I would file for bankruptcy and have the debt discharged.  

Answer 6

I went through the same thing.  In Colorado they call it a Child Investigator.  My bill was $8000 and my ex and I  split it.  The only way I got out of it was to file BK.  The court systems are so messed up, all they want is money money money.