Ruth Laura Edlund's Answers

My ex spouse will not pay spousal maintenance. Is there a way to have his checks garnished in WA State?

If--and this is a big if--you are also receiving child support from your ex-spouse, your ex can be required to pay maintenance as well as child support through the Washington State Support Registry ("WSSR"). If you are not receiving child support, only maintenance, you cannot use this option. If your ex-spouse fails to make timely payments, you can make a motion to reduce the arrears of maintenance to judgment and use that judgment as the basis for garnishing his wages or bank accounts....

4 people marked this answer as helpful

Rresending Post Secondary support. Student received support while not meeting RCW. Will the court resend support?

Not clear what you mean by "resend" support in the title of your question. Are you asking whether a court will require the student to repay support already paid in the past? If that is your question, the answer is no, because support may not be modified retroactively (there are provisions for reimbursement of overpaid daycare expenses in the statute, but that does not relate to post-secondary support). If your question is whether the above facts might be asserted as a basis for modification...

2 people marked this answer as helpful

Wa State custodial father alienating 13 yr old girl from non custodial mother, not supporting visitation.

This is a very difficult situation and my heart goes out to you. Raising a teenager is very difficult in the best of circumstances without an abusive ex-spouse. Dad has a strong legal obligation to make every effort possible to make daughter take residential time with mom. The case of Marriage of Rideout, http://www.appeal-law.com/appeals/rideout.html from the state Supreme Court demonstrates how hard dad has to try. It doesn't sound like he's doing this. You could move to have dad held...

I'm 19, living in Georgia, Have left home, and now my mom wants to take legal action against me for it.

I am not admitted to practice in Georgia but felt compelled to answer this question. It is a good thing that you were able to remove yourself from the midst of a difficult situation. At the age of 19, you had no legal obligation to continue to live in your mother's house. The threats that your mother is making appear to go beyond threats of legal action and are, at least indirectly, threats of harm--"you're going down" and "you will pay." You should find the domestic violence prevention...

My ex has legal custody of my 16 yr old son. He has lived with me for the past 9 months.Can I legally claim him on my taxes?

What do your court orders say about who may list your son as a dependent? Is there a child support order in place requiring you to pay child support? Has that order ever been changed? If your son has been with you for nine months, it sounds like he came to your household around June of last year, meaning he spent only half of 2008 living in your household. It sounds like you may be able to list him if your ex doesn't, but it also sounds as if your ex has the right to do so. You should...

Procedure for seeking child custody, correct jurisdiction for mother and child living in OH and father in MI

How long has your son lived with his mother in Ohio? Under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, which is in effect in both Michigan and Ohio, the state when the child has been living for the last six months is the "home state" of the child and the jurisdiction where any custody proceedings must be brought.