Locating Next Of Kin: Utilizing Legal Help To Get Child Support

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When you divorce from your spouse or you are estranged and have not seen him or her in months, getting child support for your children is not easy. What makes it more difficult are former in-laws who you cannot locate nor ask about the whereabouts of your ex. Your child needs financial support, and most states require that you make the effort to find your ex before public assistance programs will support you. A family law attorney can help you in ways that you alone could not pursue.

Government Records and Social Security Numbers

Even if your ex is laying low and not working anywhere in the U.S., your lawyer can use the family name and the first names of your former in-laws to track them down. If your former in-laws are older, chances are that they applied for social security to receive benefits, in which case your lawyer can find them this way too. If they are not old enough for retirement, there are still public census records, home ownership records, loan and credit application records and rent records that your lawyer has access to. Because of the right to privacy, only your lawyer can gain access to these records through a subpoena.

Family Leads to Your Ex

Out of all of your former in-laws, someone must know where your ex is. If criminals on the lam stay connected to one person, then your ex does too. However, you and your lawyer will probably have to have additional help from a private investigator to find, question and follow any leads. Since your ex is avoiding responsibility and the law as much as he or she can, he or she could be moving around a lot, from one state to the next. That is an expense neither you or your lawyer can afford, fiscally or physically. 

Arresting Your Ex

Once you and your legal team have found your ex, your lawyer will request a warrant for his or her arrest. The police closest to your ex's location will arrest him or her and transfer your ex to your state to await a hearing on child support orders. When the amounts are in the thousands, your ex may have to spend time in jail until the hearing. A judge cannot force your ex to get a job and pay child support, but the judge can put a lien on anything he or she owns, create a writ for the federal and state governments to withhold all refunds, and sentence him or her to jail for failure to pay child support.

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25 February 2015

Helping Victims of Domestic Violence

My name is Laura, and I am an attorney specializing in helping clients leave violent marriages. The law can help victims be safe, but many potential clients cannot afford legal services and may be afraid to pursue divorce. They may not be aware of services that have been created to keep them hidden from violent ex-partners and to help them be awarded assets in a divorce so they can provide for themselves and their families. I hope to raise awareness of these issues as well as help direct people in danger to facilities where they can receive guidance and financial assistance.