Child Support is ordered by the court to assist one parent in providing for the children born in a marriage or a relationship. In one case we investigated, the father, Jack decided to stop paying support because his ex-wife had recently started dating and he felt as if the support was being used for her entertainment. The children still needed a roof over their heads, food on the table, tuition to school, medical care and to participate in extracurricular activities. Jack’s lack of contributing financially wasn’t due to his being an irresponsible father, it was solely based on jealousy. He still maintained his rights for his weekends with the kids because he knew his ex-wife could not withhold visitation due to not paying support. Our Client, Sue Ann informed him he was in contempt, he laughed and stated that he wasn’t as financially sound as he was when they got divorced and that his intentions were to reduce the child support amount.
When they went to court, that was exactly what he did. He provided documents to the court that his income had decreased by almost 40% and requested a reduction. Our Client knew Jack was attempting to not only cheat his children by lying, but he was providing false information to the court. She immediately contacted our company to assist in proving his deception. Jack worked in a family business that was well established and lucrative, but it appeared sometime in February, around the same time he learned Sue Ann started dating, his salary had been adjusted to show less take-home pay. We knew Sue Ann wouldn’t be able to obtain a copy of his W-2 to show the court his yearly income and bonuses until the end of the year, so legally verifying his income wasn’t a possibility at this time, nor would obtaining accurate income from the business.
We worked with her attorney and conducted an Asset Search to determine if he was hiding any funds that had not been disclosed to the courts. From the most recent paycheck stub, it appeared he was now paying for a $1,000,000 whole life insurance policy, over and above what the family business provided and that he had started to contribute the maximum amount allowed into his retirement account. He had stopped receiving quarterly bonuses and commission as well, thus reducing his take-home pay by over 38%. Sue Ann became discouraged when her attorney conveyed this information to her, but we knew this information would assist us in our research.
Working with a law firm allowed us to access financial information for verification of his newly reported income. We determined that his personal vehicle had been put into the company’s name, therefore he no longer paid the high monthly payment or the insurance, which he did not disclose on his modified financial declaration. We determined he had opened another bank account, also not reported, in which a direct deposit was made in the exact amount of his quarterly bonus check. Upon him learning of our findings, he claimed it was his reimbursement account, but he could not produce any documents matching the total of the deposit. Prior to the court date, he was advised by his attorney to withdrawal his modification request and to pay his child support along with the arrears to avoid any further investigation into his financial circumstances and his family’s business practices.
Not all child support cases require such an in-depth investigation as this one. Many times, all that is needed is a verified address to serve legal documents, but in either case, All in InvestigationsAll in Investigations, dba can assist you, your attorney and the law firm to get you and your children the child support ordered by the court.
Brenda McGinley ~ CEO All in InvestigationsAll in Investigations., dba
