I am the non-custodial parent. I pay $1, 083 per month for two children. I am retired military as well (which plays into this complaint).

Went to court January 18th, 2012, for a review because my twins just turned 19 (the hearing that was supposed to occur on their 18th birthday got pushed back for "administrative reasons." I had scheduled time off from my job to attend the first hearing, as I live in PA, but that got rescheduled, so I had to jump through hoops with my work to straighten that mess out.

In this review (which I attended), the support was continued for one twin because he is permanently disabled. No problem there. However, the amount was only lowered to $817 per month, which is $121 ABOVE the threshold for Medicaid and SSI. He has now LOST both of those benefits, although my attorney informed the court that this would happen. Apparently the court doesn't give a damn.

To add insult to injury, and for the second time during the history of this child support nightmare, the court sent the order changing the amount of support not to my employer, but to the office that disburses my Navy retirement check every month. So what does that mean, dear reader? It means that not only will the State of Florida continue to take the $1, 083 from my paycheck every month, they will, in addition to that, take my Navy retirement check as well (and yes, my Navy retirement pay is included in the calculation for the amount I am required to pay for support). As if that wasn't bad enough, the paperwork stated that I appeared by telephone! I WAS SITTING THREE FEET FROM THE JUDGE FOR THE ENTIRE HEARING! HOW COULD THEY NOT NOTICE?????!!!

The sad part is that I am remarried with three children ages 12, 10 and 6 who will suffer the most until this gets straightened out. That process, which I can't start until Monday, will take 2 to 3 months. I am already a month and a half behind on my mortgage payments, so now I'm between a rock and a hard place, facing foreclosure. And it's all thanks to the incompetence and indifference of some pathetic judge, uncaring DOR attorney and a clerk or two who don't know any better.

I'm worried sick that this will all end badly. I wish there was some action I could take against this office and this court system to make things whole for me and to hold their feet to the fire and make them give a shit about the payer as well as the children.

As it stands now, I'm required to pay for the rest of my child's natural life, as far as I can tell. No end-date was established.

The reason my child no longer qualifies for Medicaid/SSI is because (as I stated in my rant) I pay more than the allowable threshold for monthly income levels for these programs. According to Social Security, an adult (which my disabled child legally is) can NOT have income in excess of $696/month. As I am paying $817, he gets too much money and is therefore disqualified. Any monies received for him are considered income.

We learned, during the course of the hearing itself, that he had actually lost his benefits on his 18th birthday in 2010! My ex- didn't bother to mention it prior to the hearing because she was afraid she'd lose a few hundred dollars in child support. Apparently she was more worried about having to go to work than ensuring her child's benefits remained intact. She hasn't worked a full-time job since 1989.

My lawyer was, in fact, sitting next to me in the courtroom, but was so anxious to leave the hearing room that we couldn't get anything else done. I'm not really sure why she didn't make a stink about the whole Social security issue...maybe it took her by surprise that she found this information out AT the hearing rather than before, but I can't tell.

Double DIP, not sip.