Many Texas residents who have been through a divorce know that raising a child alone can be a difficult endeavor. For this reason, there are child support laws put in place that attempt to prevent a sudden a significant decline in the standard of living for children of divorced parents. However, these laws do not always bring about the intended effect for the person paying or the person receiving. One struggling mother has been forced to face off against a large corporation just to get her child support payments on time.
According to the terms set for the payments, the ex-husband’s main source of income, a large insurance company, was required to garnish his paycheck and send a portion of the money directly to her. The problem, though, is that so far the company has apparently refused to send money on a regular basis. Even after a court order siding with the wife more than two years ago, the corporation feels that they should not be held responsible for the payments.
The ex-husband, a self-employed chiropractor, had initially been ordered to pay her roughly $900 a week, but the payments became erratic after a court ordered the money to come directly from the company providing the man’s income. The 54-year-old woman has claimed to have waited over five years for this issue to be resolved. During that time, she has gone through foreclosure for one home and has recently stated that she is close to losing her second home, all while trying to raise three children from the 20-year marriage.
The insurance company has, on occasion, withheld some of the ex-husband’s income to use for child support payments, but such actions have only been done on a very inconsistent basis. Now, the corporation is facing severe penalties for its refusal to garnish the ex-husband’s paychecks on a regular basis. In Texas, regulations regarding child support are very rigid and based on a multitude of factors which helps combat against spouses that attempt to abuse this system.