Anonymous wrote:I wish they would do that to my ex. He owes thousands and he has money in savings but he claims he can't pay the back child support. How much does he have to owe for this to occur?

OP here... If you have a divorce decree that includes CS in writing, set up a case with your local child support agency. The ex pays the state and they take all the collection action necessary. It cost me $25/year. Well worth it.

I had that as part of our original divorce decree (along with an income withholding order). I sold it to ex as it's a protection for him so I could never say he didn't pay and it's a protection for me so that I actually get paid. For your situation, you don't need to ask the ex's permission to open a case.

Thanks to all for your feedback. I'll be happy to get the back-owed amount but am in the dark about the process - I appreciate all the info so far.

Anonymous wrote:I wish they would do that to my ex. He owes thousands and he has money in savings but he claims he can't pay the back child support. How much does he have to owe for this to occur?

Get a lawyer or legal aide and put it through the court asap! Don't talk to him about this stuff, he will always lie.....

Anonymous wrote:Have you or your ex's bank account been frozen by the state for child support arrears? This happened to my ex recently and I'm curious to know what the process is, do they always give the money to the payee or do they allow for exceptions?. FWIW, I did not initiate or ask for the action, the state did.

Yes a former friend that I dumped. I didn't know her husband was such a creep but the state of CA caught up with him and not only froze it but took everything in it, lol. Any tax refunds would be taken to for his ex even though his kids are grown. The court ended up putting a warrant out for his arrest whereby he gave them his employment info. and garnished his wages from that day forward. I dumped her because I didn't respect anyone that would stay with a guy like that.

I wish they would do that to my ex. He owes thousands and he has money in savings but he claims he can't pay the back child support. How much does he have to owe for this to occur?

The particulars and procedures may vary state-to-state but for all intents and purposes the circumstances are the same in that the bank is notified first and the account is frozen in order to prohibit the debtor from taking any action such as withdrawing all the funds.
Once the freeze is initiated then the account holder is notified so your ex probably received a written notice soon after his account was frozen with instructions on how to file to contest the seizure.

The notice will tell him the date, time and place the case is to be heard in court (called a "return date"). On the return date, a judge will decide whether the bank should turn the money in his account over to the creditor (you).

If you're looking to help your ex then you can tell him that one of the most common defenses is that it would create an "undue hardship" on him if they took the funds from the account. This is a case specific argument so he would have to explain how it would affect him to the judge.

I don't have experience with this type of account freeze but as I understand it when your account is frozen the money does not go directly to the party owed.

My brother recently cleared an old debt. His account was frozen when he was in litigation. Once the judge rendered the decision and he was given an amount and a payment plan, his accounts were released.

I think the freeze is just so the person doesn't take out all the money. I believe these assessments are based on what the person can actually pay so as long as your accounts are frozen they state will know exactly how much money the ex has on hand.

The flaw is that the person may be incurring additional debt trying to pay other bills without an account. Of course if you paid what was owed, my DB included, you wouldn't be in this situation.

It may be different for child support. I know these debts are taken very seriously. I was at our local courthouse for jury duty last year and they had a sign with pictures and amounts of those in arrears for child support. There were only 3-5 people so I assume it was just the top offenders.

Have you or your ex's bank account been frozen by the state for child support arrears? This happened to my ex recently and I'm curious to know what the process is, do they always give the money to the payee or do they allow for exceptions?. FWIW, I did not initiate or ask for the action, the state did.