Child support from U.S soldier?

mummyjonno

Hi I was wondering if someone would be able to give me a hand/advice.

I have a newborn daughter (I am English living in England) and her father is American currently living in Germany (he's U.S Army so this is temporary)

He is currently paying me a fair amount of child support worked out by us (£282 pm) however I need to prepare myself incase he decides not to pay it, moves to the states ect.

How would I go about doing this? He has 3 children with his wife (currently divorcing in German court) and he will be paying her a good £1500 per month as the German child support system specifies a set amount per age range of the child and per range of his pay (dusseldorf table)

I don't want her being awarded all that money every month (even though she deserves it) and then him not being able or refusing to pay what was agreed for our daughter.

Any advice?

(he could move back to the states (anywhere) or stay residing in Germany through a job when he gets out of the army as it seam's like this is what his plan is considering he's now got someone else pregnant)

Thanks in advance

mummyjonno

Also I was wondering does anyone know if he can attempt to get her an American passport/claim her on his taxes as he is not the one that raises her? I hardly think it's fair him being able to claim her and get a good chunk of money every year for a child he refuses to see or raise.

msgnomey

eek
my first thought would be that's complicated!! my second would be get a lawyer??!!??

good luck

mummyjonno

I am hoping that if I get a child support order from court the U.S Army will garnish his wages (they won't enforce anything without a court order) I am hoping it will be THAT simple but I have a funny feeling it won't.

clearingout

you need to search this forum for the word REMO and have a google too as that will give you the information you need. Sounds complicated - good luck! We are all here if you need a sounding board!

kevin137

As above, you need to make a REMO application, i believe this is done through the UK court, that is then forwarded to the US where his home address would be as a serving US soldier, they could then order payment, although getting his wages attached may be more difficult.

Have you tried having a conversation with him regarding this...? It may be that a contract of payment, signed off by a UK court would be enough for it to be enforceable and to make sure that not all his wages go to his other kids... After al they should all get the same. And if a german court where to award over yours, it would be unfair, whereas if you had a legally binding agreement they WOULD have to take that into account.

The long and short of it is, you have nothing to lose by asking him if he would enter into a contract with you for this, to reduce his payments to her. Not in a horrible way, but you get what i mean i'm sure.

mummyjonno

kevin137 wrote: »

As above, you need to make a REMO application, i believe this is done through the UK court, that is then forwarded to the US where his home address would be as a serving US soldier, they could then order payment, although getting his wages attached may be more difficult.

Have you tried having a conversation with him regarding this...? It may be that a contract of payment, signed off by a UK court would be enough for it to be enforceable and to make sure that not all his wages go to his other kids... After al they should all get the same. And if a german court where to award over yours, it would be unfair, whereas if you had a legally binding agreement they WOULD have to take that into account.

The long and short of it is, you have nothing to lose by asking him if he would enter into a contract with you for this, to reduce his payments to her. Not in a horrible way, but you get what i mean i'm sure.

Thanks Kevin I think I will have a crack at that one. He is a very stubborn man and doesn't want to pay anything HE feel's he doesn't have too and entering a legally binding contract willingly will be difficult but I suppose if I word it correctly and be as nice as possible it may work.

We shall see

kevin137

Suggest it along the lines of, if you take legal advice, you may find that it reduces your liability by splitting what the court in Germany would make you pay be taking our child into consideration.

You have nothing to lose, and if he thinks he will be better off, then it could work in your favour.

mummyjonno

kevin137 wrote: »

Suggest it along the lines of, if you take legal advice, you may find that it reduces your liability by splitting what the court in Germany would make you pay be taking our child into consideration.

You have nothing to lose, and if he thinks he will be better off, then it could work in your favour.

Well I attempted what you said lastnight stating I simply wanted to put our current agreement in writing and his reply was "until i get a dna test you aren't having a written agreement"

Our daughters DNA has never been questioned by him but now it seam's it is being questioned or he needs it for some reason.

Not sure how that is even doable when he refuses to come here and meet her let alone come here to simply supply DNA for testing otherwise it would have been done by now :mad:

kevin137

Ok, so i have done a little digging into this, and it appears that he is resident in Germany, albeit temporarily.

That being the case, the CSA can enforce within the EU.

"When the non-resident parent lives in the European Union
From 18 June 2011, countries in the European Union (EU) must enforce:
court orders for child maintenance
decisions made by the CSA
This means that formal legal arrangements (for example court orders) for regular child maintenance payments can be enforced if any of the following apply:
the non-resident parent now lives in the EU and the parent with care lives in the UK
the parent with care now lives in the EU and the non-resident parent lives in the UK
the non-resident parent has valuable assets located in the EU - for example, property cars or money
EU countries can only make non-resident parents pay CSA arrears if the money owed was from when both parents lived in the UK."

So chase them, get on there case immediately, and if you open a case it is legally enforceable, however, not sure how that works if he is paid in the USA, but worth a try, at the very least you get a case started, and he would have to deny paternity.

kevin137

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Parents/ChildMaintenance/Arrangingchildmaintenance/DG_199081