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Please read entire post before sending judgmental comments. I only mention that because I have seen other posts on this topic.

Does anyone know how child support will affect the LTC process? Just to be clear, I am in total agreement that if a person is behind on child support they shouldn't be worried about getting an LTC. but, before you comment here's the story....

This past November(2018) I received full custody of my daughters. Long story short, when I received custody of my kids, the Texas court sent a letter to my employer to stop the child support I was paying(also,I was never behind). Between my lawyer and the Texas court, no one told the attorney general that I was the custodial parent, thus, they are still charging me for child support and I am now behind 2-3 grand. The attorney general did not notify me of this until two weeks AFTER I applied for my LTC. I called the AG and they told me I will have to schedule an in person meeting to remove the balance. It will take them 30-45 days to mail me a letter with my appointment date. At this point, I am afraid to call the DPS in case they don't know that I am behind. I recently replaced my drivers license and they didnt give me any trouble so I assume there may be a chance the DPS hasnt been notified about the CS yet.

So here's a timeline if it helps: I applied for my LTC on January 28th. They started processing my LTC application on Feb.6th. The AG notified me I was behind on CS payments around Feb 12th. So I am currently on day 65, including weekends. they are still processing it.

If this causes them to reject my LTC application will they notify me that they have rejected it? if so, will I be able to re apply once I get the child support problem taken care of?

I apologize for the complicated post, I would really appreciate any advice you guys have.

I'm sorry you're in this situation.

I do not have any experience in this area, but hope you are able to get it resolved favorably. My advice would be to be as open and honest as you can with DPS and the AG. The cover up is often worse than whatever is being covered up as far as the penalty goes. If you have the documentation to support all your claims here then it will hopefully be just a clerical issue to get everything cleared up.

Good luck!

It seems you could take a copy of that letter (that the court sent to the employer) and send it to the AG's office and clear it right up. Maybe to DPS as well.

What did your attorney say?? Or maybe it was a missed step by your attorney and he said nothing? He ought to be willing to advise you on this without extra cost since child support and custody go hand in hand. (IMO, and clearly I'm not an attorney)

Good luck!

flechero wrote: ↑Thu Apr 04, 2019 2:05 pm It seems you could take a copy of that letter (that the court sent to the employer) and send it to the AG's office and clear it right up. Maybe to DPS as well.

What did your attorney say?? Or maybe it was a missed step by your attorney and he said nothing? He ought to be willing to advise you on this without extra cost since child support and custody go hand in hand. (IMO, and clearly I'm not an attorney)

Good luck!

Thanks for the reply,

Yeah thats what I am thinking. However, in my experience in dealing with court people, lawyers and the AG, they are not that understanding and I assume they wont care until the child support is cleared. but I wont know until I try.

As far as my attorney goes, she literally closed my file a few days before I got the letter. that just means I told her I didnt need anything else and she was no longer representing me. So I am not sure if she will charge me to help with this or not. I also didnt like her as a lawyer in the first place. So I dont really want to go back to her anyway lol.

Im really just wondering If I can re apply if they do reject my application because of the child support. Being that I am on day 65 of the LTC process, I assume if they do reject me it will just be faster to reapply after I clear the CS.

CMS350 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 04, 2019 2:19 pm

flechero wrote: ↑Thu Apr 04, 2019 2:05 pm It seems you could take a copy of that letter (that the court sent to the employer) and send it to the AG's office and clear it right up. Maybe to DPS as well.

What did your attorney say?? Or maybe it was a missed step by your attorney and he said nothing? He ought to be willing to advise you on this without extra cost since child support and custody go hand in hand. (IMO, and clearly I'm not an attorney)

Good luck!

Thanks for the reply,

Yeah thats what I am thinking. However, in my experience in dealing with court people, lawyers and the AG, they are not that understanding and I assume they wont care until the child support is cleared. but I wont know until I try.

As far as my attorney goes, she literally closed my file a few days before I got the letter. that just means I told her I didnt need anything else and she was no longer representing me. So I am not sure if she will charge me to help with this or not. I also didnt like her as a lawyer in the first place. So I dont really want to go back to her anyway lol.

Im really just wondering If I can re apply if they do reject my application because of the child support. Being that I am on day 65 of the LTC process, I assume if they do reject me it will just be faster to reapply after I clear the CS.

The way I understand it, if rejected, you can appeal within 30 days. Instead of getting an attorney involved in the appeal it might be better to get your local state represenative's office engaged.

You should be fine, but it may take longer to receive your LTC. Regardless what the AG's records show, you are not delinquent on child support if the court issued an order removing the child support obligation. A worst case scenario would be a DPS denial of your LTC, after which you can send them a certified copy of the court's order. That should clear it up without a formal appeal. You are past the 60 day deadline, but you have not received a rejection letter. Therefore, it may just be running late.

Also, I do not think child support should be a disqualifying factor. If a parent were to be killed or disabled by an assault that could have been prevented if they had been armed, then the child is worse off, not better.

Chas.

Charles L. Cotton wrote: ↑Thu Apr 04, 2019 3:18 pm You should be fine, but it may take longer to receive your LTC. Regardless what the AG's records show, you are not delinquent on child support if the court issued an order removing the child support obligation. A worst case scenario would be a DPS denial of your LTC, after which you can send them a certified copy of the court's order. That should clear it up without a formal appeal. You are past the 60 day deadline, but you have not received a rejection letter. Therefore, it may just be running late.

Also, I do not think child support should be a disqualifying factor. If a parent were to be killed or disabled by an assault that could have been prevented if they had been armed, then the child is worse off, not better.

Chas.

Thanks Charles! that was very helpful.

and that was a great point about child support not being a disqualifying factor. I have never thought of it that way.