Interstate Child Support Case Results in Overpayment by Father

 Posted on December 11, 2012 in Divorce

The Chicago Tribune recently featured an article about a Chicago man who is ordered to pay child support for his twin daughters in Illinois. His children’s mother subsequently moved to a few different states, but the man continued to pay his support and it was sent to the woman in whatever state she happened to be living. When his children’s mother moved to the state of Mississippi several years ago, however, the man began to encounter difficulties. Mississippi reported that the man had fallen behind in his support in 2009, so he paid extra each week toward the deficit. However, Mississippi continued to deduct extra amounts from his paycheck, so he eventually became overpaid.

The problems did not stop there. The state of Illinois began sending the child support payments directly to the ex-girlfriend, bypassing the state of Mississippi altogether. As a result, Mississippi support records incorrectly showed that by 2012, the man owed more than $5,000 in unpaid support, and that state intercepted his federal income tax refund. In reality, the man is owed more than $1,500.00 in overpayments in child support that he has made to the state of Illinois. The man contacted the Problem Solver at the Chicago Tribune after repeatedly seeking help from the state of Illinois and Mississippi to no avail.

This case illustrates the complexities that can arise when parents reside in multiple states over the years and child support enforcement agencies become involved. While every state has interstate procedures for enforcing child support orders and collecting child support payments, these procedures are not always consistent among the different states, which can lead to major problems for the both the parent paying child support and the parent receiving child support.

If you find yourself involved in an interstate child support case, or any type of child support dispute, you are likely to need the services of an experienced Lombard, Illinois child support attorney to help you through the often complex world of the child support collection process. Unfortunately, as this man’s case goes to show, mistakes can easily occur on both ends of the process, especially when more than one state becomes involved.