A father will spend half of 2014 behind bars for doing too much for his son. After overpaying child support and seeing his son too often - breaking terms that were secretly modified without his knowledge - a judge sentenced him to a lengthy jail sentence.
Clifford Hall has been doing his best to give care to his 11-year-old son, who lives with his ex-wife. He pays his child support and visits regularly. "I'm his father it's my responsibility to take care of him," Hall said.
Last November, his child support payments were paid in full. Sometime between then and now, the child support agreement between Hall and his wife was modified without his knowledge.
Hall wound up overpaying by $3,000, a fact that Harris County District Court Judge Lisa Millard found contemptible.
Another term that was modified without his knowledge was his visitation schedule. Subsequently, Hall was found to have over-visited his son.
Judge Millard ended up finding Hall in contempt of court.
When she said I remand you to the Harris County Jail for 180 days my mouth just dropped," Hall told FOX 26 Houston.
In addition to the six month jail sentence, Judge Millard is forcing Hall to pay his ex-wife's attorney fees. "I can't be there for my son in jail," Hall said.
"I can't pay child support in jail. This is not in the best interest of the child."
I don't address this very often on the blog but the treatment of fathers by the courts is one of my pet peeves. Things like this happen WAY too often, and the end result is fathers running from their responsibilities rather than risk being mistreated by the courts.
I had some problems with child support enforcement up here in Alaska, and I was absolutely doing everything I could to meet my obligations.
In fact my brother ended up paying over a hundred thousand dollars in child support for a child that DNA tests proved was not even his.
There are plenty of loving fathers out there trying to do the very best for their kids, but when this kind of thing happens......
Wow. Just, wow!
ReplyDeleteI hope he is appealing.
Well just look at the picture he's downright handsome.
DeleteWell just look at the picture he's downright handsome.
DeleteHow is this even possible? It doesn't make sense. Instead of treating this man like a responsible human being, they treat him as if he's done something wrong. Is the judge one of those male-bashing women that's related to the ex-wife? I don't understand the logic behind this.
ReplyDeleteIt isn't. Do a bit of research - he was massively behind in payments. And then he stormed out of court - contempt.
DeleteI was reading this and was thinking -- what state? Where would the judges be so stupid?
ReplyDeleteAh...Texas! 'Nuff said!
My son is going through this hell right now. He has been screwed over every way possible. His ex is a pathological liar, has been proven one beyond a shadow of a doubt in Court, and yet she still wins. He's also spent thousands & thousands of dollars fighting her & is still losing. All he wants is to be able to be close to his daughters & have a say in raising them. He loves them before anyone or anything and they've been carefully taught to hate him. They take after their mother as liars & terrible people. His youngest is 12 and already a lost cause. There is absolutely no justice for fathers in many jurisdictions. This story is a prime example.
ReplyDeleteLet me get this straight...he OVERPAID his child support and was a Dad the showed up and gave a shit about his kid. The ex gets a modification to the agreement without his knowledge, much less agreement, and he's thrown in jail. This is Texs right?
ReplyDeleteTexas, what a SHOCK! How many women reading this wish their ex would be as supportive of this man? My ex would not visit the kids, child support had to be paid through the court otherwise we would not have received anything. This man's ex wife does not know how lucky she is that he supports his child and spends time with him.
ReplyDeleteIt's not just the fathers - it's the absent parent regardless of what gender that may be.
ReplyDeleteOnly one parent can be granted primary custody - but the courts and media tend to always treat the absent parent like the villain. With divorce being such a common result of marriage, there should be a no-fault attitude toward the absent parent but there really isn't.If you aren't named the primary custodian, everyone knows there's something WRONG with you. It's just bull nd has been for way too many years.
-Oz
Actually, both parents can share joint physical custody 50/50, and where I live that is considered to be the preferred method unless the parents don't want it that way. Some parents trade off every week, some trade off every month. For others, separated by distance, a school year/summers works best.
Deletehttp://www.snopes.com/politics/crime/childsupport.asp
ReplyDeleteHelps to look this stuff up first, ya'll, especially with a source such as sott.com.
Interesting information that presents a rather different view of the case. Thanks for the link.
DeleteThanks; had just done the same thing and was about to post the exact same link.
DeleteThere is more to the story, I just went to look some of this up. I think he needs another lawyer , maybe his employer needs to get in trouble. He left this woman when she was 7 months pregnant to marry another woman. There has been strained relationship since, She has been had a time getting child support since child was born. He has been in jail before for non payment. of child support. In 1995 there was a law put in place ( in Texas) that as long as person paid the amount owed before court the judge would not put them in jail. In 2013 that law was repealed. Now if the person was a repeat offender of child support non payment they will not accept the payment at court time. It is expensive( for the person trying to get the child support money) in lawyer fees, and so many were waiting to pay the minute before court, wasting the state and the other person a lot of money, court fees, and they skate out of going to jail, by paying at the very last minute. Now as I mentioned the may be other factors here maybe his employer was not paying on time maybe he needs to get in trouble. This might not be his fault, but this is why he ended up with a jail sentence.
ReplyDeleteAlso read he got up and walked out of the court room 2 times during the hearing and that is why he was found in contempt. There is a lot more to the story. The woman said he was a good dad to her their child so she wasn't bad mouthing him about that.
DeleteGryphen, I'm afraid you got ahead of yourself on this story. While it is true that men often get a raw deal in court in custody/support issues, this case doesn't seem to have much more than a catchy headline. Read three articles and you will have three different sets of "facts" and no clarity. A quick visit to Snopes.com describes an ongoing battle for non-payment and a dearth of factual information - only the man's point of view is represented. Apparently he has been cited as in contempt of court since last April. "Secret hearings" in which the terms were changed and no notice of the changes? Really? Does he think his case rises to the level of a FISA court?
ReplyDeleteIn the end, the facts of this case will be far different than the he said/she said story presented thus far. Perhaps someone will actually take the time to look at court documents and report on that.
You need to check Snopes on this.
ReplyDeleteChenagrrl,
DeleteYou need to learn how to post links:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/crime/childsupport.asp
Seems to my Anonymous7:48 that you were fully able to find the snopes URL.
DeleteThanks Chenagirl. I appreciate the tip-off.
DeleteI think Chenagrrl was talking to Gryph, who I'm pretty sure knows how to find Snopes
DeleteAND, on some tablet devices/"Smart phones", you can't cut and paste links. Shouldn't reflect poorly on the poster.
DeleteWealthy Wisconsin GOP donor gets lawmaker to write bill to cut his child support payments
ReplyDeletehttp://freakoutnation.com/2014/01/12/wealthy-wisconsin-gop-donor-gets-lawmaker-to-write-bill-to-cut-his-child-support-payments/
Utter scum.
ReplyDeleteWealthy Wisconsin GOP donor gets lawmaker to write bill to cut his child support payments
Wealthy Wisconsin businessman Michael Eisenga has been unable to find a judge who will cut his substantial child support payments under current law so the major donor to Republican politician has found a GOP lawmaker to rewrite the law for him. Because laws are only for the little people.
http://freakoutnation.com/2014/01/12/wealthy-wisconsin-gop-donor-gets-lawmaker-to-write-bill-to-cut-his-child-support-payments/
Utter scum.
The laws are skewed in favor of the mother, which is grossly unfair. There are cases where the man's paid full child support, on time, has had to fight for the right to see his child, then later, through DNA testing, finds out he's not the biological father.
ReplyDeleteDoes the court make the mother repay every penny he's paid? NO, If his name is on the birth certificate as "father", he's legally the father of the child and has to continue to pay.
There's some scum men out there who deserve to be called deadbeat dads, and there's some women who take advantage of innocent men for the money and because they know they can and the law won't do anything.
From the facts told in this story -- it seems really, really odd. However, I remember a case when I worked for "the welfare department" (not the actual name, but the name most people would understand), there was a father who insisted on having the child exactly 50% of the time, just to ensure his ex could not qualify for aid for dependent children. She would need to have custody of the child at least 51% of the time. Not saying it is the situation in this case, but in the example I knew about in the past, the father's visitation and support was just enough to ensure the mother could not collect welfare, but not sufficient for her to support the child on. Without welfare, she could not get Medicaid for their child, etc. So the court (in that case) saw the father's behavior, not as loving the child, but in being controlling and abusive towards his ex.
ReplyDeleteBoy, get your facts straight BEFORE you print a story like this and comment on it. You won't look so silly when it's over.
ReplyDeleteHe was jailed because of a new Texas law where fathers in arrears on their child support can't get away with paying up before the court date. They still go to jail for getting in arrears. This guy has been to jail before for non payment. He isn't as innocent as you make him out, and he certainly wasn't jailed for paying too much.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/01/13/new-law-in-texas-sends-dad-to-jail-despite-up-to-date-child-support-payments/
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