Child Support In Michigan

How many of you feel that the Michigan child support agencies are not doing their job?

They were always right on top of me making sure my payments were on time everytime. I am sure the fact that I had one steady job and was white had alot to do with that. Not a racists statement just a realistic statement.

John M wrote:

They were always right on top of me making sure my payments were on time everytime. I am sure the fact that I had one steady job and was white had alot to do with that. Not a racists statement just a realistic statement.

I can assure you it had nothing to do with the fact that you are white!!! My ex is white also and does not do his job what-so-ever in paying his support.He only had to pay $76.00 a week for 2 kids and is a truck driver. He is currently $52,000.00 behind in support. Makes me sick.

I do applaud you for doing your part and for all others that also do their part. It just those that don't that give people a bad name.

The "Friend" of the Court isn't anyone's "friend". Their book keeping has absolutely no logic to it. They send out inconsistent amounts on inconsistent dates making the money bonus money since you can't budget it. This is ridiculous since they receive it right in sync with a non-custodial parent's pay date.

God help the custodial parent if he/she isn't on welfare and the ncp falls into arrears. They really could care less and there is absolutely no enforcement. If the cp is on welfare, they will throw the ncp in county in a hot minute though, cause the state will make sure they get their money. Meanwhile the hard working cp is just screwed.

I know a guy who has had custody of his son for about 10 years because the mother abandoned the child. At birth he had a job with full health insurance and gave the mother all of the information so that the child would be covered. The mother was on medicaid at the time and lied to the powers so medicaid was billed for the birth rather than the insurance. He has been trying to pay this back for years. Whenever he falls behind they put a warrant out for his arrest. Do you think the FOC is pursuing child support enforcement on the mother? Nope.

Nope, the FOC isn't anyone's friends.

Tell me if I'm wrong.

Does it seem like by the court or ,a court, doles out how much you have to pay.Does it seem like more of a punishment, or does the ammount seem fair.?

One guy I worked with a long time ago, was a low paying job, but was ok.He said he is making as little as possible because the more he made they took out extrordanary ammounts.
But I think it should be as much as before you had to pay and less, because she was the other HALF of the relationship.

Live up to your obligation or keep it in your pants. Plain and Simple!

I guess I was lucky I never had to deal with the Friend of the Court .I paid my X directly with a check every week for sixteen years, I even increased the amount on my own no court involved. I have heard all the nightmares dealing with F O C they are no ones friend no matter what side you are on the payer or the payee.

Concerned wrote:

Live up to your obligation or keep it in your pants. Plain and Simple!

Plain and simple, live up to your obligation or cross your legs or keep it in your pants. It takes two, male and female. Both are responsible for birth control.

When you hear the word deadbeat, why does the image that comes to mind always a male? That’s because the males in this state get the shaft concerning child support, visitation rights, and custodial rights.

I never understood this; when the female sues for child support the prosecuting attorney for the county that she resides in is always listed as the ‘attorney’ on the suite, and represents the female free of charge. Meanwhile, the male has to secure the funds to hire an private attorney or has to represent himself. How fair is that?

I know so many non custodial fathers that pay outrageous amounts for child support, are denied reasonable visitation, and rarely have joint custody. These non custodial fathers wouldn’t have such a problem if their support monies were spent on the children they were ordered to support.

I agree with JJay….. FOC is nobody’s friend. Whether it is assigning support amounts, enforcing visitation, or addressing custody issues. Their accounting system and communication system is a piece of work also.

JJay wrote:

The "Friend" of the Court isn't anyone's "friend". Their book keeping has absolutely no logic to it. They send out inconsistent amounts on inconsistent dates making the money bonus money since you can't budget it. This is ridiculous since they receive it right in sync with a non-custodial parent's pay date.
God help the custodial parent if he/she isn't on welfare and the ncp falls into arrears. They really could care less and there is absolutely no enforcement. If the cp is on welfare, they will throw the ncp in county in a hot minute though, cause the state will make sure they get their money. Meanwhile the hard working cp is just screwed.
I know a guy who has had custody of his son for about 10 years because the mother abandoned the child. At birth he had a job with full health insurance and gave the mother all of the information so that the child would be covered. The mother was on medicaid at the time and lied to the powers so medicaid was billed for the birth rather than the insurance. He has been trying to pay this back for years. Whenever he falls behind they put a warrant out for his arrest. Do you think the FOC is pursuing child support enforcement on the mother? Nope.
Nope, the FOC isn't anyone's friends.

Got another good one. This non custodial father has had private insurance on his child since birth, has paid all medical bills that insurance doesn’t cover i.e. deductibles and such. While this child is covered by the father’s insurance, the mother gets Medicaid, on the child and uses it for all medical, because she doesn’t want to pay a 10.00 co-pay for a office visit or a prescription. Meanwhile FOC is all over the father demanding on why he is not covering his child under his private insurance.
How crazy is that!

The biggest misconception make about child support amounts is that "it doesn't take that much to raise a child"

Child support amounts are NOT set up by "how much..." It is set up so that the child[ren]benefit as if the two parents were together

rval3 wrote:

The biggest misconception make about child support amounts is that "it doesn't take that much to raise a child"
Child support amounts are NOT set up by "how much..." It is set up so that the child[ren]benefit as if the two parents were together

Well, your right and your wrong. FOC uses a formula that is based on both incomes, time spent with either parents, who has medical insurance on the child and so on. What they don’t do is take the NET income, after taxes, premiums paid for medical insurance, if employment is seasonal etc. in to consideration. Nor do they take in consideration if the custodial parent is supplemental supported by someone else, i.e. parents, live in boy friend, or remarried

We have had so many problems with FOC. Currently, my husband pays $960 a month for one child. He lost his job after an accident a couple years ago and fell into arrears while recovering. We almost lost our home. As soon as he found another job FOC started taking this giant amount, plus our income tax refund check, AND our stimulus check too.

There is no way we can catch up our own bills, or expect to live any normal kind of life for years and years and years.

Before you say "he should have kept it in his pants", his wife left him for another man.

I think it's okay that a man take care of a child he helped create, but for God's sake, when is enough, enough?

Shoeless Eluder wrote:

I guess I was lucky I never had to deal with the Friend of the Court .I paid my X directly with a check every week for sixteen years, I even increased the amount on my own no court involved. I have heard all the nightmares dealing with F O C they are no ones friend no matter what side you are on the payer or the payee.

I applaud you. You are not only an upstanding person but parent as well.

I am owed $75,000.00 and they have never done anything to collect from him. A couple bench warrents and arrest him IF he gets pulled over. Big deal. They also have two warrent officers for Kent county so they can not go get them if you tell them where the person is. Now that he is in his 50's he is on Disability (although still works on the side for cash) and they, by law, can not with hold any of his income.

miss-moll wrote:

We have had so many problems with FOC. Currently, my husband pays $960 a month for one child. He lost his job after an accident a couple years ago and fell into arrears while recovering. We almost lost our home. As soon as he found another job FOC started taking this giant amount, plus our income tax refund check, AND our stimulus check too.
There is no way we can catch up our own bills, or expect to live any normal kind of life for years and years and years.
Before you say "he should have kept it in his pants", his wife left him for another man.
I think it's okay that a man take care of a child he helped create, but for God's sake, when is enough, enough?

Make sure you have separate bank accounts, that way they can not ‘take’ your money if they decide to clean out a checking or savings account. Believe me, I have seen this done by FOC. If you are working, the only way that they can not place a lien on your tax returns is if you file married but separate. You might not get as much back on your tax returns, but at least your refund will not be used to collect back support.

They want you to report any change in your income whether it is an increase, decrease or loss of wages due to sickness or loss of a job. But if you do not have a attorney to represent you they fail to tell you that you have to file ‘certain‘ forms (and pay for them to be filed) to be reviewed by a referee or judge before they will make any adjustment to your monthly support. And they take their sweet time doing it when you do file the correct forms.

ummm wrote:

I am owed $75,000.00 and they have never done anything to collect from him. A couple bench warrents and arrest him IF he gets pulled over. Big deal. They also have two warrent officers for Kent county so they can not go get them if you tell them where the person is. Now that he is in his 50's he is on Disability (although still works on the side for cash) and they, by law, can not with hold any of his income.

Complain long and loud enough and they WILL go out and pick him up just to get you out of their hair.

JKC wrote:

<quoted text>
Well, your right and your wrong. FOC uses a formula that is based on both incomes, time spent with either parents, who has medical insurance on the child and so on. What they don’t do is take the NET income, after taxes, premiums paid for medical insurance, if employment is seasonal etc. in to consideration. Nor do they take in consideration if the custodial parent is supplemental supported by someone else, i.e. parents, live in boy friend, or remarried

This topic really gets me, and JKC you hit it right on the head. My ex gets two-thirds of my take home pay every check for our three children. I have no problem with supporting my children and I see them quite often, thanks to a good relationship I have with my ex-wife. But, how am I supposed to maintain my own modest residence, bills, car payment, food, etc. when I see 1/3 of what I "make"? It's frustrating, because I understand the need to support my children, but in the meantime I am drowning.

Speaking from experience. I can tell you the absolute worst social policy on the planet is Child Support. You enslave whomever doesn't have custody of the child. In this state, women typically get the child because they are women, and men get shafted. Child support and Childcare make it impossible for the man to be able to live on their own.

Here's a novel idea, you want the kid, you pay for the kid, or leave them with the other parent.

I would never do it without the friend of the court. yes they screwed around with how much money they gave her and when, but they kept good records and made sure I had an avenue to later fight for custody, keeping all my letters I wrote. Friend of the court is no friend of the man when they decide custody, but they do no favors for the woman after they give them custody. Course what favors do they need, they got the kid and court ordered pay.

If you need child support to take those kids in divorce, you've got no business taking the kids.

And that's what is plain and simple.

frazzled wrote:

<quoted text>
This topic really gets me, and JKC you hit it right on the head. My ex gets two-thirds of my take home pay every check for our three children. I have no problem with supporting my children and I see them quite often, thanks to a good relationship I have with my ex-wife. But, how am I supposed to maintain my own modest residence, bills, car payment, food, etc. when I see 1/3 of what I "make"? It's frustrating, because I understand the need to support my children, but in the meantime I am drowning.

One of their regular quotes when they hear this is “Not My Problem” or “Get a better job” or “Get a second job”. But it is a catch 22. Usually a better job is more money, and of course a second job is more money. If you are on the up and up and report it to them, you pay more support. Unless you can work a second job for cash, you won’t be able to maintain even a modest life style. If you have a good relationship with your ex she can request the FOC to lower the support to a more reasonable amount, as long as she is/has not collected state assistance.

JKC wrote:

<quoted text>
One of their regular quotes when they hear this is “Not My Problem” or “Get a better job” or “Get a second job”. But it is a catch 22. Usually a better job is more money, and of course a second job is more money. If you are on the up and up and report it to them, you pay more support. Unless you can work a second job for cash, you won’t be able to maintain even a modest life style. If you have a good relationship with your ex she can request the FOC to lower the support to a more reasonable amount, as long as she is/has not collected state assistance.

Just wait til she starts sending the kids over in rags, so you can buy them new clothes every vist....and never see them again.