If you are receiving any form of public assistance benefits then you cannot "close" your case with Child Support Enforcment without a termination of your benefits. If you previously received benefits (but are no longer) then you still may not terminate the Department's rights to enforce your prior order to recoup the arrears/past due support owed to the State.
Frankly, there is little benefit to you to terminate/close your case with DOR (Child Support Enforcement). It is unlikely that his support is unaffordable to him because he failed to provide his financial information (which would be his own fault anyway), because if he does not provide his information then all DOR goes upon is either (1) an imputation to minimum wage earnings or (2) basing the income upon what has been reported to DLES as his income each quarter for the past several years. While he may have missed out on certain deductions he coudl have claimed (such as other child support orders he pays or other children he supports without a court order or the use of the "gross up" method if he has substantial time-sharing with the child), he could still file a Motion for Relief or a Supplemental Petition for Modification to seek to reduce/change the support obligation to what it should have been if he had provided the discovery.
Ultimately child support is the right of the child(ren) to receive and the obligation of both parents, and neither parent has the right to "waive" the child support on behalf of their child(ren). As such, I recommend that you seek a consultation with a Family Law attorney if you have questions about enforcing your obligation, and your son's father should seek a consultation with a Family Law attorney if he believes the support order entered against him is wrong or too high for his income and expenses.
-Fred Pollack
Frederick L. Pollack, P.A.
412 E. Madison St., Suite 915
Tampa, FL 33602-4617
Tel: (813) 228-0400
Fax: (813) 228-0600
E-mail:
[email protected]