Expert: Timmy Chou - 2/2/2005

Question
Hmmm not sure who to ask or how to ask it. I have been fighting to get my money back from Ill Child support Division and Public Aid for exactly a year. They took my taxes and I did not owe anything to them. I have my kids every summer. I live in Alabama and they live in Ill. I have a court order stating that I do not have to pay child support for the months I have the kids. My exwife willinging signed this as well as myself and the judge. EAch year she supplies to the courthouse the dates we have the kids. Not a problem at the Henry County Courthouse. Well, about 4 years ago all cases started going to the State of Illinois child support in Chicago and they have constantly kept this account messed up. First they applied about 4 checks to the wrong person. Then they decided to go over the account and said that we owed for all the summers we have the kids. For some reason they will not credit our account. WE have sent them numerous letters of proof and all they say is we have to wait for a hearing.This has been going on for a year. This past summer they refused to give us credit again for the kids being here and therefore show we are behind again. This is not right. Even Stacy sent a letter to them stating she renounced the child support for those weeks. Henry County shows us at a credit now of almost $3000 but ILDP shows us owing almost $900 so Stacy made a copy of that and used that to claim the kids. This is just not fair that the fact we want to have time with the kids should be held against us at the end of the year. Whatever happened to doing the right thing and being commended for it. Anyways, do we have a lawsuit here and if so...what type of lawyer should we use. If not...what are our rights here? Do we have any at all? WE are talking a large amount of money (close to $6000) when it is all done. They have $2500 from last year and her claiming the kids this year cost us $3200. Yikes that is alot huh!
Please tell me what you can.I appreciate it.
Kirk and Tonya Nystrom

Answer
Thank you for your question!

Mediators act as neutral third parties to disputes and never "get involved" in judging the merits of conflict, but merely use special techniques to help the parties decide how to negotiate their own settlement.

The case you describe here is probably very typical.  I am not an attorney but I can respond to your question from my business consulting experience.  Note that this issue may have legal ramifications and you may wish to consult an
attorney.

It is likely you do have grounds for a lawsuit but I can assure you that it would cost more than $6k to litigate the suit and it would also take a long time.  If you won you would likely not be reimbursed for court costs.  It also may be the case that the agency is an official State Department, which means in most states that they are immune from claims.

I would think your only hope is to try to get an issues-based advocacy group involved such as the ACLU.  They might go to bat for you to pressure the agency to make changes.  It is likely that this kind of experience has been repeated many times.  If you can get a bunch of families together your case may be more compelling.  A class-action suit can be brought more easily.  

Even more effective action may be to try to bring publicity to your plight.  Sometimes TV stations have a guy that advocates for people who have been abused.  Getting the agency on the evening news would likely get you the attention you request.  But your story seems like it may have appeal to features producers as well.  There's nothing like a little public shame to get people out of their chairs.

Lastly I would suggest that you get your State Senator or Representative involved if you can.  Many times a call from the right office can get senior officials to actually look at the case and address the problems.

These are some ideas.  Feel free to follow up with additional questions.

For your information, the pros and cons of the types of dispute resolution methods follows.

GOOD LUCK!

Arbitration, Mediation, and Litigation

Arbitration: the referral of a dispute to one or more impartial persons for final and binding determination outside of the judicial system

Benefits of Arbitration:

    Confidential, no public record
    Limited exchange of documentation, information
    Quick, don't have to wait for a court date
    Arbitrators have expertise in the subject matter and are trained in conflict resolution
    Cheaper than litigation
    Preserves business relationships

Negatives of Arbitration

    It's a compromise, no %100 winner
    Complex arbitration can be costly
    If not satisfied, may litigate the arbitration procedure
    Poor results with an unskilled arbitrator
    Both parties must agree to cooperate in the process

Mediation: the process by which parties submit their dispute to a neutral third party (the mediator) who works with the parties to reach a settlement of their dispute.

Benefits of Mediation:

    Neutral mediator can objectively suggest alternatives not considered before
    Parties are directly engaged in negotiating the settlement
    Can be quicker than litigation
    Less costly than litigation
    Preserves business relationships
    85% of American Arbitration Association cases mediated find successful solutions

Negatives of Mediation

    may not reach a binding decision
    unskilled mediator

Litigation: using the judicial system to resolve disputes

Benefits of litigation:

    a clear winner and loser
    uses a prescribed set of procedures
    more predictable outcomes
    is final

Negatives of Litigation:

    waiting for court dates can do more harm
    usually more expensive than mediation and arbitration
    part of the public record