Do you have a child support order?

[caledonia]

I don't have child support order yet because the father of my baby still give money for my baby needs, but not that big, that's why I still need to work for our needs. Anyway, do you have a child support order? Please share your experience and if you have some issues with that.

[karan]

I don't have a child support order from court but I have informal agreement made between us stating that the father will provide the expenses for education and medical expenses of child and I will take care of daily expenses other than that.so I don't know about child order as it is time consuming process.

[LadyTwlight]

I get Child Support..I have to I was working in a resteraunt only working 6 hours, which is now down to 2 hours a week at 7.25 which used to be 6.25 before minium wage went up, for almost 2 years now.. the Child support I get is $165.00 every 2 weeks..Thank God..Cause I needed it so bad.. I'm raising my little girl by myself he gets to see her 3 days out of a month.. and I buy her clothes and food with it but still.. He's married if I told the state, do you think they will decrease the child support or increase? Cause I really need to know this. Please?
Thanks
Lady Twlight

[SMFH]

The best thing to do is to get it any and all orders in writing. If you need to go to court to get this done that you need to go to court. It might cost a little money at first but in the long run it will be worth it.

[ChattyKathy]

I agree an informal agreement is not the best thing to have. At anytime the father could just not hold up his end for the "informal agreement". Get everything in writting and notorized if you need to. The best is to just go to court and get it over.

[TNShannon]

I have a child support order, but that doesn't mean things are guaranteed. My ex-husband obtains a great amount of his income "under the table" and doesn't declare it, and there is no paper trail for the court to follow in order to prove it. Therefore, when he requests that the child support be reviewed and he's apparently working part time for minimum wage, I know it's not true...but I can't prove it to the court, either.

So over the last several years, his child support has continually dropped, even though the lawyer knows...the child support office knows...and I know that his income is much more than what he actually claims.

It's frustrating that the system can work like this, but people always seem to find a way around it. The best you can do is always be honest, get everything you can in writing and establish a court order. Eventually, they will slip up...and when they do, you have the paper trail you need to establish a case for raising support, or even obtaining back child support on the basis of their lies about what they were actually making back then.

Your child support office will do all they can to help you, but you have to be willing to play hardball with your ex in order to make it happen. It's so easy to be friendly and to just not "rock the boat" when it comes to finances -- believe me, I've done it more than once -- but your kids deserve more than that.