Child support issues
 

I just found out that the statute of limitations in Rhode Island for child support back payments is 20 years. I am 28 and my father never paid a dime in child support. How would I go about getting it back if I don't have money to pay a lawyer?

Aren't they owed to your mother, not you?

No, the money is owed to Stacey.

Cool. That makes more sense, but it didn't sound like the way the law would actually be written.

20 years from what date?

I think it's from the date they were issued the court order to pay. Does that mean if he was first ordered to pay when I was 1 yr old that I'm S.O.L?

Stands to reason, but you have to look it up to be sure.

Screw the law. Have Arsen round up a couple of his Russian Merchant Marine buddies go over and collect it.

I want to make him pay. He's such a deadbeat. He married my mother when she was pregnant, then he went down to Louisiana for Mardi Gras when I was almost a year old and he never came back. he lived in Louisiana until my mother tried to get him to pay child support, then he moved to Alabama. When I was 16 I wrote him a letter asking him to at least help me pay for college. he moved to another part of alabama. I know where this asshole is.

Is he your biological father? Name on the birth certificate?

Was a court order for support actually issued, or was the only request the letter you wrote asking for help for college?

Yes, he is my biological father. he married my mother because he got her pregnant...
The child support was court ordered. He didn't pay, my mother took him back to court, and that's when he started moving around.
I would have to be partially retarded to think that some guy who isn't my real father should pay child support, or even if he is my father, that he should have to pay if he wasn't ordered to in court. I'm not THAT stupid, guys!
(sorry, I'm feeling a little bitchy and defensive right now, don't take it personally)

I was just clarifying facts that weren't completely spelled out. Forget I asked.

I guess my question is this:

Is this about the money, or revenge? Because if it's about revenge, I can get behind that. But if it's about the money, you're probably gonna save yourself some time, money, and possibly heartache by just letting it go.

I would guess that if the statute of limitations is 20 years, it probably goes by date of Order, and if it was ordered when you were 1 year old, you're probably too late.

However, if it's 20 years from when he was supposed to pay, then you can claim back to 1994 through your 18th birthday.

It would probably be way more to collect it through legal means than it's worth. Unless, as perth says, it's all about the revenge. But then, that's your karma. Do what you want with it.