Immediate Child/Spousal Support??

Hi,

Is there a way to get an immediate child/spousal support order in??? My ex-husband had been paying without issue so my lawyer never pressed the issue- now he has stopped. I'm a stay-at-home mom/student with three very young children that has now been financially cut off. (I have 90% custody) It seems like everything my lawyer suggests takes ridiculous amounts of time that don't put food in my children's bellies now... any help would be greatly appreciated...

Thanks.

Even if you filed for support ex parte, which essentially means emergency support, I think it's rare to get it in regards to spousal or child support. I think you should just file your application as soon as possible, then when your court date arrives, the judge may make your support effective and retroactive to the day you filed.

Why has he stopped paying is he unemployed? You also have 3 kids to support and depending solely on child support is not a good idea. With 3 kids you should be at least working part time. All you can do is file contempt but there is no way to force dad to pay immediately.

He works- he is a police officer. My guess would be paying for his kids was taking too much away from his new girlfriend.. And it would be cost prohibitive for me to work as my children are very young- not even school age- infant, toddler, preschooler. I couldn't even afford child care. I know eventually they will garnish his wages... But for now we are at his mercy.

Absent an order you have 0 leverage and 0 contempt. 

In some states you can also seek that he pay your legal costs....

Is it better to file an order to show cause for financial support or try to wait and work it out between attorneys- which seems to take forever. 

And yes, I'm requesting he pay my court fees as he is dragging this out unnecessarily.

I am not a lawyer

But I have gone through a divorce.

as the guy making all the money of the family, which I was and am

my lawyer strongly suggested I pay support during the divorce.

even during my divorce, I was paying about $2000 or so each month.

However

Not every person in this world cares about his children so much as me or others.

I don't think I had to do it.  My lawyer told me, it was a good idea, and I followed most everything he suggested.

I have flat out handed my daughters cash when I thought they needed it.

I'm really sorry, but I don't think legally, you can do much right now.  Get the divorce.   Then we all have to pays our children.  Otherwise, it's the taxpayers.

Good luck!

In some states the logic is rich spouse needs to pay by order for attorney for weak spouse so weak spouse has a chance at equal leal footing for a reasonable outcome and to avoid rich one starving poor one into submission--does not require that rich one be "bad" as such.

Stories elsewhere such as in Forbes suggest this award of ongoing legal costs  can quickly make rich spouse a whole lot poorer.

Is there already orders for child & spousal support in place? 

If you file for state assistance, the Child Support Enforcement Agency probably will go after him fairly quickly.

But, they won't touch spousal support and monthly welfare amounts are likely to be a far cry from your usual standard of living.

If you have an attorney, you need to better explain the urgency of your situation and need for an emergency CS order ASAP.

Do you have pendente lite orders and he stopped paying them? If so, he is in violation of court orders and the judges do NOT take kindly to that. Make sure the judge knows he's a police officer. They take even less kindly to that.

If you DON'T have pendente lite orders you have zero leverage and zero money. Not a lawyer, but my personal opinion is that this path goes nowhere, fast.

Your lawyer, if he actually told you these things take forever, is either lazy or incompetent. You fill out the papers. You file them. You get a court date. The judge signs the order that day. In my (very busy) jurisdiction, I've never waited more than two weeks.

The PL orders should include visitation and temporary custodial orders, and if you've been an at-home mother, and the marriage is not brand new, spousal support is in the mix, too.

Good luck.

Well since being a stay at home mom doesn't pay well and I gave up my career 4 years ago per his request- he needs to provide finances while I continue going to school for a chance to start a new career. If he doesn't like being poor, he should of waited to cheat on me until after I finished school OR not had 3 kids with someone he wasn't planning on staying with. Both are beyond my control. However, I do need to get through school in order to be able to provide for the children that I have. He has washed his hands of me and the children and I have full custody.

I have no support orders in place because he and his attorney wanted to come to an agreement outside of court but nothing has happened. Still no support- he had supposively agreed to pay a designated amount but his last payday, he gave me $50 and told me to make it work. So I'm stuck since nothing has been officially filed- just verbal agreements with the attorneys so far.

I looked at state funded programs for temporary aid until we get a resolution but they require that your car not be valued at over $5,000. And my car is worth more than that- I just traded in my truck for a used Honda because I couldn't afford to pay for the gas of a truck. And I don't qualify for affordable housing because we had owned a house together within a year... So according to the state I'm not poor enough for help. I really wonder who these programs are for if they are refusing a single mom with 3lids and no job who is just trying to get through school so that I CAN work and provide for my kids.

Thank you for the tip about the pendente lite- I will look into that immediately!

CareCourt:

I have no support orders in place because he and his attorney wanted to come to an agreement outside of court but nothing has happened. Still no support- he had supposively agreed to pay a designated amount but his last payday, he gave me $50 and told me to make it work. So I'm stuck since nothing has been officially filed- just verbal agreements with the attorneys so far.

What did your attorney say about this outside of court agreement idea?  As you have discovered, absent a court order for support, you have no way to collect.  The county child support enforcement office can assist you in obtaining the child support order and since they basically have a dedicated judge that does nothing but that, it could be done rather quickly.  HOWEVER, they do not handle establishing a spousal support order.  That you would have to do yourself or with private counsel.  Child support in CA is based upon a computer calculation that isn't subject to much argument in court.  Once a support order is before the court, it can also order that the payments be made by wage assignment--taking the money out of his check before he gets it. 

CareCourt:

It seems like everything my lawyer suggests takes ridiculous amounts of time that don't put food in my children's bellies now

In CA, you can file your petitions in family law court yourself.  Every county courthouse has help with these issues, though they can't give you legal advice.

Verbal agreements are fine until someone doesn't comply.  I'd call my lawyer today and ask for an emergency petition for CS; you don't have to divorce to get it.  If he waffles, consider filing yourself.