Child Support Judgement Appealed in the 4th DCA of Florida

As previously written I have been in court for over a year trying to obtain child support enforcement. I have had to learn more about the law then I have cared. I now know how to file motions, petitions and all kinds of legal documents. I have read the law and can quote the Florida Statutes which are applicable and I have even obtain a judgment for my son’s Father to pay child support. It is amazing to me he can claim to be indigent but retained an attorney for over a year to dispute his obligations to pay the judgment. As I write this he has made the indigent claim to the 4^th District Court of Appeals in Palm Beach and they are considering taking the case.

My son’s Father is on public assistance and is not disabled as determined the courts. He is almost 4 months behind in child support payments and retains his driver’s license and continues to collect public assistance. This is a person with a degree. Actually he has several and is very capable of working but is voluntarily unemployed at this time.

First and foremost I feel like this is a terrible injustice to my son and me in which this person is getting away with this but then I have to ask, “Where are the stewards of the state’s public assistance dollars?” Why should an able body person continue to draw welfare when he hasn’t paid his child support?

His attorney is playing a very unscrupulous trick in that she has filed a notice of appeal but hasn’t filed the actual appeal. Of course she has no real legal grounds in which to file the appeal. If anything the courts were very generous to my son’s biological Father.

I have countered this move with a motion to expedite the hearing if in fact the 4^th DCA actually is willing to hear and appeal of a dead beat Father. But then I would have to wonder why the taxpayers along with us are being so ripped off. This person owes this money. There hasn’t been an appeal filed because there are no grounds. The notice of appeal was only to attempt to stay the judgment which was denied. If the biological Father attorney who is indigent but can afford an attorney to fight in the 4^th District Court, actual filed the appeal it would be denied. She has no grounds and we have to endure yet another stall tactic, which costs the state more money and keeps my son in poverty longer.

There is a move for me to make after this and it is coming because as nasty as the biological Father and his attorney can be I can answer with motions and petitions as well. I am not an attorney but after a year of this I am starting to catch on. Time is running out for this dead beat Dad who has not shown one ounce of concern for his child or willingness to live up to his court ordered obligation but wastes his money on an attorney which can not change the DNA test or his obligation.

For anyone going through this if you have to care for your child without the financial assistance of the biological Father and therefore can’t afford an attorney to handle your case I highly recommend hanging out at the Clerk’s office. They can’t help you legally but you can file motions with them. Sometimes while I wait I listen to the motions being filed just to get ideas.

It was never my goal to put my son’s dead beat Father in jail but he is in contempt of a court order for over 4 months now. He and his lawyer have insulted the process by filing a notice of appeal but not an actual appeal. So when he is wearing strips and is behind bars for none payment I will not feel sorry for him. He owes me a great deal of money and it is time he pay or work in a prison and pay. It is his choice but my son deserves better and I will not stop until he receives it.

If you are a dead beat Dad and haven't paid your child support, my suggestion is to pay it all immediately. And since you know you are a dead beat Dad and haven't paid accept the judgment and do not struggle. The absolute worst thing a dead beat Dad can do is not accept responsibility as he is an inmate just waiting to be imprisoned.

And if you are a woman of a child who has a dead beat Dad, never surrender your child's rights to be reared out of poverty. Every child has a Father and if the Father can't be a decent Father the least they can do is pay their child support payments. It is your child's right. And how you handle this will make all the difference in how your child lives as an adult.