Find Deadbeat Dads

Single parenting is tough, and it’s much easier when the other parent contributes financially for living expenses. Some parents lose touch with their children during or after a divorce and subsequently refuse to provide any support.

State child support agencies have become more efficient in finding deadbeat parents. As the custodial parent, you can help the agencies, and even do a lot of the work yourself to track down deadbeat dads. If you are owed child support, there is help for you and your children. The very first step is to contact the child support enforcement in your state, or Province.

Some states work hard to track down deadbeat dads, at no cost to you, but you need to help the agencies as well. The child support agencies have the necessary tools and experience that you do not have. Many agencies also maintain websites to publicize information about the elusive parents.

Be proactive! If he doesn’t pay, help them to help you!

You must provide information to help them: Date of birth, social security number, driver’s license number, photo, and where you think he may have moved to. In the meantime you should also do some legwork yourself. Even if you end up working with professionals, you can save time and money by checking the Internet yourself for information.

Start by checking search engines by typing in the parent’s name in quotes. If the person’s name is common, your search may return too many matches. In that case, include more information, such as a middle name, or the state where you think the person may be living.

Also check social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace. Your ex may be brazen enough to create a page on a social networking site. Law enforcement professionals often use this resource to find wanted criminals.

You could also hire a professional investigator to track him down. The advantage to this is because he is working just for you, he may accomplish the objective faster than the child support agency.

Other Options.

Public Records Searches.

Since hiring a private investigator is generally cost prohibitive for most mothers with limited resources, a public records search may yield good results.

What you will be doing is searching public records databases, these may be useful since they often provide last known addresses, employment records, and many other archived records on individuals. Information is collected from a wide variety of sources such as newspaper archives, county court records and a lot more. If you are searching for someone, this is an excellent resource.  It’s not free, but it is very reasonable for the information you can get, and a lot cheaper than hiring an agency.

One of the most common questions people have is whether or not free records search databases actually exist on the Internet.  Unfortunately, the answer is no.  If you’re looking for completeness and accuracy, you will  need to pay a small fee to access the record.

Also it is worth mentioning that if you search for free reverse phone, or other records search directories. You will find some pseudo-directories promising to allow access to free information. The truth is that these websites will just return very basic information (such as the name of the cell phone carrier) without any real and useful information provided unless you pay for the service.

We have included links to a few of the paid resources that we feel provide the most up to date and accurate information from our own experiences. The cost is very reasonable, and if you fail to locate the desired information by using these services, refunds are available.

General Person Search Database

Marriage/Divorce Records Search

Mortgage Records Search

Property Records Search

Reverse Address Search

Reverse Cell Phone Search

Reverse Email Search

Unpublished Phone Number Search

A few other tips..

If you find him, DON’T contact him! As much as you may want to make your feelings known, it’s best to just pass the information along to the child support office you are dealing with.

Keep an accurate record of what he owes you so that if you find him, you’re prepared to collect.

Also, please be aware  of the many so called child support collection agencies you find on the Internet. They may look and sound official, but many of them aren’t. Check them out thoroughly using resources such as the Better Business Bureau. Make sure you check the reputation of the organization and read the fine print before you make a decision.

Previously, we discussed low cost options for collecting past due child support, including filing a wage assignment.

A wage assignment is a great first step for anyone with a delinquent “ex”, particularly one that’s steadily employed for someone else. And, for the person with limited means needing comprehensive assistance, CSE can’t be beat, although their high caseload often means it can take 6 to 9 months or more for CSE to execute their administrative options of tapping into someone’s wages or placing a lien on their bank account.

But for the price, these alternatives deliver real value, but only if they succeed! Too often, though, collecting from “deadbeat dads” can be a frustrating game of cat and mouse. This is particularly true if the owing parent is self-employed or hops from job to job, making a wage assignment ineffective. It is equally frustrating tracking down their savings, which they move from bank to bank, or stash in the account of a friend or family member. Or, the “ex” that has squirreled their acorns away in a brokerage investment account or retirement plan, which require more complex legal procedures to break open.

These are situations where a private attorney can be more effective, but at a cost likely to be at least several hundred dollars. The attorney, though, will be able to give your case a great deal more priority and directly execute whatever remedy is needed at the earliest opportunity.

After filing the wage assignment, your lawyer can move immediately to file garnishments with the court to capture whatever cash, stocks, bonds etc. your “ex” has stored in banks and brokerage investment accounts, plus place liens on whatever real estate and other valuable property he owns. However, your lawyer’s ability to move quickly assumes that you have accurate information on where your “ex” banks or maintains his investments. If this information is not known or out of date, your attorney can subpoena your “ex” and ask him under oath to identify the location of his assets, as well subpoenaing any associates that may be holding funds.

Your attorney can also have a portion of your former spouse’s retirement plan transferred into your name. This is done by having the court issue a Qualified Domestic Relations Judgment Order (“QDRO”), which directs your ex’s retirement plan to transfer up to the full value of the delinquent obligation into your possession. The downside is that often the assets cannot be spent until retirement age, or if they can, a penalty might have to be paid. And in most cases, the person receiving the assets has to pay the taxes due when cashing out, although the value of the assets transferred can be set to include the anticipated taxes.

Lastly, one effective way to motivate a recalcitrant “ex” is by having the court find that he is in contempt of court. Your attorney has to demonstrate that your “ex” had the ability to pay, but intentionally refused. But, once proven, the court’s usual response is to throw the deadbeat in jail, letting him out only to go to work, until the obligation is satisfied. Although the court’s reluctant to entertain this motion until other remedies fail, a few overnights in the county lock-up often brings about the desired effect.

Cynthia M. Fox is an experienced attorney and mediator based in St. Louis Missouri. For over 25 years she has focused her practice in family law, with a particular emphasis on matters relating to the dissolution of marriage: divorce representation and mediation, child custody and child support. Cynthia is a native St. Louisan and a graduate of the Washington University School of Law, Class of ’73. Cynthia is a divorce lawyer who has been where her clients are and understands the pain, stress and uncertainty they are experiencing. Several years ago she went through a difficult and contentious divorce and child custody battle with her ex-husband, and has traveled this same path with clients hundreds of times. These experiences led her to reshape her approach to the practice of divorce law, which she calls The Constructive Divorce. The intended result is that her clients are able to move onto the next stage of their lives feeling whole, with their financial and emotional resources intact, and their family relationships preserved.

If you are just starting to think about the possibility of ending your marriage, have already decided to seek a divorce (or your spouse has made that decision), or you want to revisit issues from a prior divorce, such as child custody or child support, please call Cynthia Fox at 314/727-4880. Or, you can learn more and make an appointment at her web-site: http://www.foxfamilylawyers.com