Try not to worry over something you have no control over.

I'm kindof in the same boat with my X...waiting for a court summons...can't afford a lawyer. How will I pay for one...etc

So that's the attitude I've adopted...it works for 95 % of the day..then I start to stress-out again..then I remind myself that I have no control over it...so don't let it control me..or ruin my day, or my Holidays...

Whatever happens will be dealt with when it comes then will be put behind me..and my life moves forward...

Not sure what state you are in, Nymh, but I would bet that if he is making an honest effort to repay any arrears, along with the regular payments, then they would likely work with him on a payment plan to get back on track. Jail would likely be a last ditch effort they would resort to if he were paying NOTHING. If he's paying the current amount, plus extra to get caught up, then I would think it's unlikely he'll get arrested. (Not unheard of, just unlikely, I would guess. After all, jail = unable to work = no paycheck = no support at all. They would try other measures to get the money before putting him in lock-up.)

I would file whatever paperwork is required in your state to get an appeal and to try to have this hearing waived, if he does get served with papers. Make sure you include documentation to show that regular support is being paid and that extra payments are being made towards the arrears. It would probably help to include what the plan is to pay off the arrears, as well. If he can prove that he's making the regular payments faithfully and is making a good faith effort to meet his obligation towards catching up on arrears, they will likely work with him.

Also, could this be a computer-generated thing that gets spit out regardless of whatever payments are being made? The reason I ask is that my husband's CS is payable on the first of every month, considered "late" if not received on or by the 15th of the month and is considered "missed" if not received by the first of the next month. He gets paid on the 15th and the 30th of every month, so we pay our house payment on the 1st and the CS on the 15th. I pay the CS online through the child support enforcement website on the 15th of every month like clockwork. However, there is a computer-generated "threat" letter that automatically is sent out by the CSE system on the 15th. It's on an official court form titled, "NOTICE OF DELINQUENCY."

That letter and the CS payment always are sent out on the same day, they always happen at the same time and sort of cancel each other out. The first time we got the notice and called CSE, we were freaked out and panicking because we were afraid that meant more court proceedings to deal with, especially because the person at CSE told us that a summons would likely follow. We calmed down, read the notice, read over info on the CSE website and called back and spoke to someone with some authority, not just whatever peon answered the phone. We were told that the notice was a computer-generated notice that automatically is triggered when the electronic system doesn't recognize a payment as having been made by the 15th of each month. As long as the payment is received by the end of the month, there's no problem. We went on to explain that the CS comes out of the 15th paycheck and will always be paid on the 15th and that our cour order even states that it will be paid on the 15th. They told us that because the notices were computer-generated, they would continue to come if payment was not received BEFORE the 15th, but that as long as the payments were being made by the end of the month, to just ignore them. So that's what we do. The North Carolina Division of Child Support Enforcement wastes I don't even know how much money sending us a monthly notice to tell us the child support is late, even though it is paid on the exact date it is due. Go figure. We've been getting these stupid little notices for years, all because no one will go into the system and change our due date from the 1st to the 15th. Morons.

Before you freak out completely, take a deep breath and do a little more information-gathering. Call and get the facts from someone who really knows what they are talking about within CSE. It might be nothing, or it might be something that can be taken care of without a lot of agony. But please try not to stress out too much. They will garnish his wages or income tax refund before they do anything as drastic as arresting him and if they do try to garnish his wages, you can always request an appeal on that, which will likely have to be settled before they can actually take the money out of his check.

It really sucks that this happens the week before Christmas. I hate grinches.

~ Anne ~