I'll try to keep this as brief as possible. I live in WA my ex lives in MS, our divorce was done in MS. I paid my child support up until I lost my job and became unemployed, in short I fell behind , now me and the ex had a verbal agreement which I learned the hard way does not hold up in court, she went behind my back and filed with MS DHS. DHS went after me with guns blazing. For 5 months I tried to contact DHS to set up a payment plan to pay the arrears.

Now when you call the 800 number for DHS you get a child support information help desk all they can do is answer general questions, I asked to speak to the case worker in charge of my case, their reply is we will send them a email and they have 5 days to respond if they don't respond in 5 days you call the help desk back and they send a email to their supervisor and the case worker, again you wait 5 days if no response the process with emails starts all over. Long story short 5 months not one call from anyone.

I manage to come up with enough money to hire a attorney to represent me in MS because I cant miss work nor can I afford to travel to MS for this. My attorney charges me 1200.00 retainer. She meets with DHS and they agree to a payment plan, now I am also seeking a modification its been 6 years since the initial order and I had never asked for one, based on what I make vs what I pay is way above the 20%. My attorney says for a additional amount she can have my support modified. I pay the amount and 3 months later still have not heard from her and I have called the clerks office and no modification has been filed.

Now im on the verge of losing everything because of this withholding order against me in the full amount of my arrears and child support. DHS after months has finally decided to do a modification for me, also keep in mind these people are taking my tax refunds for the offset, So they dont tell me they are going to modify my support. The way I find out is through a summons to appear in court. Now that I have given the back story my problem is.

I cant afford to go to MS for this court date, literally cant afford it , my current wife is unemployed and I do have a child with her. What hoops, song and dance do I have to do to get this set up where I don't have to appear? calling DHS is not a option they don't return calls period. How can I make sure I don't get screwed over again with the modification? cant afford a attorney and after being ripped off the first time I ever hired one don't even want to think about it. Also is it possible to have the child support case moved to my current state so that I can deal with the local DHS office here?

Child support is handled where the child lives. You certainly can contact the MS state bar and file a complaint against your attorney. Typically that will get the attorney moving. Have you browsed through the information in LawInfo's Free Legal Resource Center to learn more about your issue yet? See: http://www.lawinfo.com/consumer.html and http://resources.lawinfo.com/en/index.html. You can certainly try to speak to a lawyer to determine what legal options may be available. In the meantime, you may be able to learn more on your own. Search the "Free Legal Resources" tab, or browse the Consumer Resources. Good luck.