Success Story – Deadbeat Dad Owing Child Support in Excess of $85,000 Held Accountable

Background: The client’s ex-husband moved away and, despite having a child support obligation, he refused to pay. The total owed exceeded $85,000, accruing over a period of 8 years. The client attempted to work with governmental agencies on her own to pursue the child support owed to her, to no avail. 

Challenges: Lavelle Law took immediate steps to locate the deadbeat dad and upon confirming his location, filed a petition for contempt against him. We also reached out to the Illinois Department of Healthcare & Family Services seeking their assistance to find and garnish bank accounts, tax refunds, and any other means to obtain and/or compel payment of the child support arrearages. We were persistent and unrelenting. 

Result: Once deadbeat dad realized he was going to be held responsible for all arrearages, plus interest and penalties, (nearly $100,000), he was ready to negotiate. The client was in need of funds immediately. To be able to secure her a large amount of the outstanding funds sooner rather than later, we agreed to waive interest and penalties in exchange for a large initial lump sum payment but only on the condition that if deadbeat dad fell behind on any future payment, all interest and penalties would become immediately due. The client received 50% of the arrearages within 30 days, and the rest was scheduled to be paid off over time. We were also successful in the Court granting our request to keep the matter on the “active call” for status on “compliance of payment” to ensure that all future payments would be paid in full within the agreed-upon timeline.