Child Support

I'm not a lawyer but I would say no unless the orthodontics are correcting something life-threatening. After all, you'd be asking an orthodontist to continue to provide services to you after not paying what you already owe him and with the understanding that you may not pay him for future services either. No orthodontist (or any professional) is going to agree to that. You're better off not including the orthodontist in the bankruptcy and paying the orthodontist bill. After all, after you're discharged, you WILL have extra income so you can use that to help pay the dental bills. ~ T

Usually not, as the child is usually over 18. However, that parent is still responsible for any late child support payments that they might still owe. When my brother's 19-year-old girlfriend went back to school, she had to go to court to collect several hundred dollars that her father owed in back payment. By law, the child is still entitled to the money even if it is late.

No, and no can he, so there must be a greater issue related here as to the safety of the children. As for being in arrears, in this economy that comes as no shock as men do not know there is free legal help to avoid or reduce arrears from the government. That is what I teach them.

If he has been established as the biological father you can not stop him from petition for visitation. That is his right as a parent. If he somehow is unfit you will have to prove that to the court.

How old is this person? Child or adult? 18 year old that still acts like a child? I do believe 18 is the age for most states to consider it legal for them to enter into contracts. Unless you co-sign with the person you are not legally obligated for their finances. Under 18 tho, you are responsible for any damages or financial crap they get into .

Living on their own.

That will depend on the original parenting plan filed with the court during your divorce. You will probably have to go to court and file a motion to stop child support since he has dropped out of school.

In most states the biological mother of the child, the husband of the biological mother because he is the presumptive father regardless of whether he was involved with conception or not, and any putative or possible fathers that the child may have whether married to the mother or not. It is important to discuss this issue with either a family law attorney or the agency responsible for child welfare, as there may be time limits on how long a person has to file a request to determine paternity. For example, in IL the mother may request that a potential father be tested at any time from birth to the child's 18th birthday, when the child can then make a request themselves; but a potential father only has 2 years from the date of birth to make a request, and only one year to sign the birth certificate if they did not do so at birth.

There is no standard. The policies vary from state to state and from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. There are no universal standards in family law. See the discussion page for some examples from various jurisdictions.

After a court order adjustment, barring a successful Rebuttable Presumption.

Yes, there's a 30% rate of paternity fraud where a mother gets a man whose not the father to sign the birth certificate.

SSA payments paid on a child's behalf, based on the child support obligor's SSA account, count as child support for the month that they are paid. E.g., support obligation is $100 for November 2009, SSA pays $200 on child's behalf, obligor owes nothing in addition. (BTW, the excess cannot be "carried over" to meet the support obligation for a different month.)

If on the same child you need to file a motion to clarify
see link

Foster parents are not financially liable for any actions a foster child takes. (Though this could vary from state to state / province to province) I only know for British Columbia, Canada

It varies between states, it can be 6 months-1 year but also depends on what reason he has for being absent and if he has paid child support and if not, the reasons for that. Taking away parental rights are not taken lightly.

In this situation, it sounds as if the order needs to be modified.

Contact the branch legal office. Have you asked him why.

Yes, though it may affect the amount of SSI the child is receiving as it comes from that parent's SS account.

Though you can check with the group below, generally the same rules apply as in an adoption.

Yes, especially if the child will have no means of supporting him/herself on their own or living on their own. There may also be circumstances when a person would have to be put into a facility. There would still be an obligation by someone to provide for their stay. Your current court order should take into consideration each others income, however if the child would be put in a facility, you may want to have a modification of the order as both parents should be required to contribute to the support of the child/adult for their stay.

The step father would have to adopt the child. For this to happen, the biological father would have to relinquish all rights through the court system.

Only if you owe a past-due balance from an order(s) entered when this person was still a minor.

He needs to file immediate for a change in custody, otherwise he's still obligated to pay child support, and she can come take the child back at any time. see link below

By court order, he can, if he's under a child support order.

You should be able to go into Maryland Judicial by going to google, then put in Maryland child support statutes. That should take you to a self help site within the court systems where you can down load anything you need. The state I am in says 19 yrs old unless they are attending college, unless of course you allowed something else to be written into the divorce. In that case it could be up to 21 yrs old unless attending college.