- Report: #21926
Complaint Review: Wayne County Friend of the Court - Detroit Michigan
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Wayne County Friend of the Court
Penobscot Building Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A.
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Wayne County Friend of the Court, Office of Child Support, Charging Child Support YEARS after parents of child are married Detroit Michigan
*Consumer Suggestion: Here is a web site
*Consumer Suggestion: check this helpfull info out
*REBUTTAL Individual responds: I am not on any public assistance
*Consumer Comment: Wayne County FOC & Diana Masters ripoff a lot of people.
*Consumer Comment: Wayne County FOC & Diana Masters ripoff a lot of people.
*Consumer Comment: Wayne County FOC & Diana Masters ripoff a lot of people.
*Consumer Comment: Wayne County FOC & Diana Masters ripoff a lot of people.
*Consumer Suggestion: Try This....
Hi,
I just want to tell everyone about the runaround we've gotten from the Wayne County Friend of the Court in Michigan.
First a background.
My daughter was born while I was 19 and unmarried. My boyfriend and I at the time were together, but broke up shortly there after. HE insisted on paying child support through the courts so no one could ever say that he didn't take care of his child. Everything was fine.
About 4 years later, we got back together and got married. He is in the service, so we moved out of state. I took my marriage certificate down to the Friend of the Court building. I was told that the case would be closed and we had no need to worry about it again.
(And this is where it gets sticky.)
Two years into our marriage, my husband was summonsed to court for non-payment of child support. The summons had my name as the plaintiff. We received the summons one week before he was scheduled to appear. We lived across the country and I was 9 months pregnant with our second child. The Friend of the Court office in Wayne county has no phone number that you can speak with a person to tell them of our situation, or ask for it to be moved to another date. We took out an emergency loan with the military and rented a car to drive back to appear. When we arrived, we told the referee, the person handling our case, our situation and showed him our marriage certificate. He ushered us off to have a review of our case.
The person who reviewed our case said that we were $100 (or so) short on what he owed in child support. But we had to pay a maintenance fee for them to keep the case open which was like $.75 a day. She then told us of other fees we owed. All totaled it came to over two thousand dollars. We were staggered by the figure. But it seemed to work out on paper. We couldn't argue the price of fees because that is a constant, weither we knew about them or not. We decided instead to cut our losses so to speak, pay the dept, and move on with our lives. They were holding our taxes (both of ours, even though I clamed injured spouse) And we saw no other choice.
We paid the amount. (We had to get a loan for that too, but it was cheeper that paying their fees) And I made them give me a letter stating that as of this date, the amount of children on the order was zero, and the amount owed was zero, and the amount arrears was zero. We figured, we learned a hard lesson and would just continue with our lives.
Untill a year later, when we received another letter stating that they were taking our taxes due to unpaid child support over the same child. We were outraged. I had asked for phone numbers of people I could contact when we were up there last time so I wouldn't have to go through this again if I needed something. (Being out of state.) I was given 4. None of which worked.
I have called the Governors office. I have called the Department of Health and Humanitarian Services in D.C. I have been told no one can help me because they don't have my case in front of them. I have sent registered letters to the Friend of the Court. And the only reply I have gotten was a payment booklet sent out to me.
I have every piece of paper they have sent me since my daughter was born. Receipts from the payments we have made. And copies of letters sent by me, my husbands command, and a military lawyer. It accounts for over 100 pages.
I am at my wits end. I write this, not hoping someone at the Friend of the Court will change, not wanting to put someone down, or hurt a company's reputation. I write this in hopes that there is SOMEONE out there that might be able to help me.
I understand this is a government agency, and a legal court. So, I am told, I can not take legal action unless it is a class action law suit. That is not something I necessarily want to do. I don't believe this is what our government should be doing. I understand everyone down there is overworked. I want to take one more case load OFF of their working list.
I know there are other people out there who have had problems similar to mine. I DO believe something should be done. But most of all I want to stop worrying about an exorbitant amount of money that I have already paid out, and just make it end.
Please, if anyone out there has any suggestions, I would be most appreciative. I am at the end of my rope.
Thank you,
J. Morgan
Biloxi, Mississippi
I just want to tell everyone about the runaround we've gotten from the Wayne County Friend of the Court in Michigan.
First a background.
My daughter was born while I was 19 and unmarried. My boyfriend and I at the time were together, but broke up shortly there after. HE insisted on paying child support through the courts so no one could ever say that he didn't take care of his child. Everything was fine.
About 4 years later, we got back together and got married. He is in the service, so we moved out of state. I took my marriage certificate down to the Friend of the Court building. I was told that the case would be closed and we had no need to worry about it again.
(And this is where it gets sticky.)
Two years into our marriage, my husband was summonsed to court for non-payment of child support. The summons had my name as the plaintiff. We received the summons one week before he was scheduled to appear. We lived across the country and I was 9 months pregnant with our second child. The Friend of the Court office in Wayne county has no phone number that you can speak with a person to tell them of our situation, or ask for it to be moved to another date. We took out an emergency loan with the military and rented a car to drive back to appear. When we arrived, we told the referee, the person handling our case, our situation and showed him our marriage certificate. He ushered us off to have a review of our case.
The person who reviewed our case said that we were $100 (or so) short on what he owed in child support. But we had to pay a maintenance fee for them to keep the case open which was like $.75 a day. She then told us of other fees we owed. All totaled it came to over two thousand dollars. We were staggered by the figure. But it seemed to work out on paper. We couldn't argue the price of fees because that is a constant, weither we knew about them or not. We decided instead to cut our losses so to speak, pay the dept, and move on with our lives. They were holding our taxes (both of ours, even though I clamed injured spouse) And we saw no other choice.
We paid the amount. (We had to get a loan for that too, but it was cheeper that paying their fees) And I made them give me a letter stating that as of this date, the amount of children on the order was zero, and the amount owed was zero, and the amount arrears was zero. We figured, we learned a hard lesson and would just continue with our lives.
Untill a year later, when we received another letter stating that they were taking our taxes due to unpaid child support over the same child. We were outraged. I had asked for phone numbers of people I could contact when we were up there last time so I wouldn't have to go through this again if I needed something. (Being out of state.) I was given 4. None of which worked.
I have called the Governors office. I have called the Department of Health and Humanitarian Services in D.C. I have been told no one can help me because they don't have my case in front of them. I have sent registered letters to the Friend of the Court. And the only reply I have gotten was a payment booklet sent out to me.
I have every piece of paper they have sent me since my daughter was born. Receipts from the payments we have made. And copies of letters sent by me, my husbands command, and a military lawyer. It accounts for over 100 pages.
I am at my wits end. I write this, not hoping someone at the Friend of the Court will change, not wanting to put someone down, or hurt a company's reputation. I write this in hopes that there is SOMEONE out there that might be able to help me.
I understand this is a government agency, and a legal court. So, I am told, I can not take legal action unless it is a class action law suit. That is not something I necessarily want to do. I don't believe this is what our government should be doing. I understand everyone down there is overworked. I want to take one more case load OFF of their working list.
I know there are other people out there who have had problems similar to mine. I DO believe something should be done. But most of all I want to stop worrying about an exorbitant amount of money that I have already paid out, and just make it end.
Please, if anyone out there has any suggestions, I would be most appreciative. I am at the end of my rope.
Thank you,
J. Morgan
Biloxi, Mississippi
8 Updates & Rebuttals
S
Detroit,Michigan,
U.S.A.
Try This....
#2Consumer Suggestion
Mon, April 18, 2005
Go to the FOC's website www.3rdcc.org and go to their feedback page. Send an email with the subject line of "Agent#32" and give the specifics of your case. We'll see what we can do.
Evelyn
Greenwood,Louisiana,
U.S.A.
Wayne County FOC & Diana Masters ripoff a lot of people.
#3Consumer Comment
Tue, April 05, 2005
What kinda government do you people in Michigan have? I am having trouble with FOC and my husbands exwife. My husband and i live in Louisiana and have been married 24 years. 16 yrs into our marriage they started taking our taxes. Saying it was back child support and spousal support, now you have to understand we payed the child support until his son was 18. They started taking my taxes when his son was 21. And also his exwife remarried right after their divorce. Now doesnt that violate any spousal support. I know in Louisiana spousal support stops when a person remarries.. Anyway back to my story. His son is now 29, and his child support has been payed up for 11 yrs. But they are still taking my taxes and even froze my bank account to try and take it. Luckily i was born and raised in Louisiana, and i know the laws here,, this is a community property state. So i get half the taxes back each yr and they also only got 45 dollars out of my account. But they did tell me they add penalties and interest so now even though my husbands child support has been payed up for 11 yrs. they say we owe them over 43,000.00 which is total ridiculous. I just want this insanity with Michigan to stop. Now i see why my husband left that state, and why i will NEVER live there let alone visit.
Evelyn
Greenwood,Louisiana,
U.S.A.
Wayne County FOC & Diana Masters ripoff a lot of people.
#4Consumer Comment
Tue, April 05, 2005
What kinda government do you people in Michigan have? I am having trouble with FOC and my husbands exwife. My husband and i live in Louisiana and have been married 24 years. 16 yrs into our marriage they started taking our taxes. Saying it was back child support and spousal support, now you have to understand we payed the child support until his son was 18. They started taking my taxes when his son was 21. And also his exwife remarried right after their divorce. Now doesnt that violate any spousal support. I know in Louisiana spousal support stops when a person remarries.. Anyway back to my story. His son is now 29, and his child support has been payed up for 11 yrs. But they are still taking my taxes and even froze my bank account to try and take it. Luckily i was born and raised in Louisiana, and i know the laws here,, this is a community property state. So i get half the taxes back each yr and they also only got 45 dollars out of my account. But they did tell me they add penalties and interest so now even though my husbands child support has been payed up for 11 yrs. they say we owe them over 43,000.00 which is total ridiculous. I just want this insanity with Michigan to stop. Now i see why my husband left that state, and why i will NEVER live there let alone visit.
Evelyn
Greenwood,Louisiana,
U.S.A.
Wayne County FOC & Diana Masters ripoff a lot of people.
#5Consumer Comment
Tue, April 05, 2005
What kinda government do you people in Michigan have? I am having trouble with FOC and my husbands exwife. My husband and i live in Louisiana and have been married 24 years. 16 yrs into our marriage they started taking our taxes. Saying it was back child support and spousal support, now you have to understand we payed the child support until his son was 18. They started taking my taxes when his son was 21. And also his exwife remarried right after their divorce. Now doesnt that violate any spousal support. I know in Louisiana spousal support stops when a person remarries.. Anyway back to my story. His son is now 29, and his child support has been payed up for 11 yrs. But they are still taking my taxes and even froze my bank account to try and take it. Luckily i was born and raised in Louisiana, and i know the laws here,, this is a community property state. So i get half the taxes back each yr and they also only got 45 dollars out of my account. But they did tell me they add penalties and interest so now even though my husbands child support has been payed up for 11 yrs. they say we owe them over 43,000.00 which is total ridiculous. I just want this insanity with Michigan to stop. Now i see why my husband left that state, and why i will NEVER live there let alone visit.
Evelyn
Greenwood,Louisiana,
U.S.A.
Wayne County FOC & Diana Masters ripoff a lot of people.
#6Consumer Comment
Tue, April 05, 2005
What kinda government do you people in Michigan have? I am having trouble with FOC and my husbands exwife. My husband and i live in Louisiana and have been married 24 years. 16 yrs into our marriage they started taking our taxes. Saying it was back child support and spousal support, now you have to understand we payed the child support until his son was 18. They started taking my taxes when his son was 21. And also his exwife remarried right after their divorce. Now doesnt that violate any spousal support. I know in Louisiana spousal support stops when a person remarries.. Anyway back to my story. His son is now 29, and his child support has been payed up for 11 yrs. But they are still taking my taxes and even froze my bank account to try and take it. Luckily i was born and raised in Louisiana, and i know the laws here,, this is a community property state. So i get half the taxes back each yr and they also only got 45 dollars out of my account. But they did tell me they add penalties and interest so now even though my husbands child support has been payed up for 11 yrs. they say we owe them over 43,000.00 which is total ridiculous. I just want this insanity with Michigan to stop. Now i see why my husband left that state, and why i will NEVER live there let alone visit.
Gailyn
Detroit,Michigan,
U.S.A.
I am not on any public assistance
#7REBUTTAL Individual responds
Mon, March 08, 2004
My daughter's father has not paid anything in child support. The order was put in place in May of 2002. I am not on any public assistance. Does this mean that my case does not take precedence over cases that are receiving public assistance? I have read of all the help that mothers on public assistance were receiving. What about us mothers who are not receiving public assistance? What programs do you have for us? I am a single mother and I would like to have my case reviewed. I have called a number of times, but could not reach the "appropriate" office. Further, my daughter's father refuses to provide any support, nor will he participate in her upbringing, until, of course, it benefits him. That's not the issue. It just burns me up to know that this man is living life to the fullest and not considering his child. Furthermore, the F.O.C does not seem concerned either. This is a farce. Who will speak out for my child? I can't fight it alone. That's why I went to the F.O.C in the first place. I tried to work it out between the two of us, but he would not cooperate. What can I do now? I have exhausted all of my resources and the F.O.C isn't helping! I am unaware of his address and place of employment - to his liking. I do have his phone #, but I won't list it here. He owes in excess of $7000.00. I need help with my struggle to receive support from her father. Thank you for your consideration and cooperation. Gailyn Laird
Linda
Romulus,Michigan,
check this helpfull info out
#8Consumer Suggestion
Fri, October 25, 2002
Here is the name and phone number of the director to Wayne County Friend of the Court. Wayne County Friend of the Court, Jane Barney, Penobscot Bldg, Room 323, 645 Griswold Detroit, Mich. 48226 PHONE 313-224-5261 FAX 313-224-6070 I found this under Wayne County Friend of the Court. There is also an organization called A.C.E.S. You may be able to find one in your area without having to come back here. If not call their main number in I believe Toledo, Ohio. They do have chapters in Detroit and surrounding areas of Detroit. They may be able to help you from where you are. Also there is an Executive office of Friend of the court and the contact name I use to call is Susan but I have to find my folder to get you more information. I hope this can help you. I know what you're going through for I still am trying to get them to strictly enforce an order on my daughters father whom they have allowed to get $36,000.00 in arrears. She is now an adult. Also, the only senator I found that was willing to help me was Loren Bennett. Contact him and see if he will help you. I wrote the Govenors office and all my state senators and congress people plus the President of the U.S and all I got was the buck passed or no response. Loren Bennett called the Friend of the Court and got things moving for me. Good Luck
Tammy
Kathlenn,Florida,
Here is a web site
#9Consumer Suggestion
Fri, June 21, 2002
I have had 2 cases through the FOC in Michigan, they are a joke. One case my X and I took out of their office in 1999 due to problems with them forwarding payments to me. But I still deal with them on a regular basis due to another case. Here is a link to a website that I found the other day, Click on complaints and maybe there will be something that you can use. Also maybe email state senators and the govenor if need be, but don't let them get away with anything they are trying to do to you. Website is www.courts.michigan.gov Hope you can find some useful info. Good luck
