So you thought you could shave off a few expenses by doing away with a legal counsel and personally handling your divorce case. That might sound impressive, but it might not have been a very smart thing to have done. By failing to get the services of someone who’s actually spent years to master his craft and has actually gone through more divorce proceedings than Elizabeth Taylor could have ever dreamed of, you may end up risking your entire life.

Think about it. These proceedings are going to determine what properties you will have left, custodial rights over your kids, as well as child support and alimony. You could be left penniless, and if the child support fees charged against you are beyond what you can afford, you could find yourself losing your liberty within a few years. Your entire life as you know it is at stake here. If you simply wanted to save money, there are millions of other ways to do so without scrimping on your divorce costs. 

But this is an amicable divorce..

Now every divorce case is different. Some of the more complex ones are impossible to go through without a lawyer at every hearing. There are also those that are more or less straightforward and amicable, with both parties generally agreeing on the terms of their divorce. 

The common mistake that a lot of people make is to presume that one doesn’t need a lawyer when the divorce is simple and amicable. That’s certainly not true. You still need the guidance of a lawyer to go over the terms of your divorce and make sure that there’s no hidden clause that’ll spell trouble for you in the future. Whether you like it or not, the lawyer for the other side will always have the interests of his client in mind when he drafts up a divorce agreement for the two of you. So you better make sure you also have a lawyer looking out for you.

Practically broke?

If you’re not simply scrimping on costs, and are seriously unable to afford the full services of a divorce and child support attorney, you don’t have to hit the panic button just yet. Most family courts provide for free or inexpensive services of a legal counsel that you can avail of if your income is low enough to qualify. As an alternative, you can also choose to only pay for some consultation hours with a lawyer, and then proceed with representing yourself during the hearings. They can go through your case with you and provide you with the important tips on how you should go about in representing yourself. 

The important thing to remember here is that its insane to proceed with a divorce proceeding without having at least consulted an experienced divorce lawyer. You’ll basically be throwing yourself at the mercy of wolves. If you do survive the ordeal, you’ll probably be left scarred and getting a lesser deal that what you could’ve gotten with the help of a good lawyer at your side. So who needs a child support and divorce attorney? Every divorcing and divorced parent, that’s who.

That’s what Francisco Rodriguez kept insisting when the state tried to collect back support worth $10,000.00 for an 11-year-old child that the court decided to be his kid. He had DNA results showing that the child wasn’t his. The mother even signed an affidavit admitting that Rodriguez wasn’t the father. Did the state back down? In an ideal world that’s all fair and just, yes. In this real world, however, that wasn’t the case and Rodriguez still ended up paying for back support and continues to this day to pay monthly support for another guy’s kid.

If this true story gives you nightmares, then you’re not alone. Tens of thousands, and we’re not exaggerating here, of fathers out there are battling paternity issues regarding children that they’re being made to pay child support for. Sure there are some who are just plain deadbeats trying to evade their responsibility for a kid who’s a spitting image of them. But this is just the minority, and many of the cases out there are grounded on genuine doubts. 

With the way that the entire child support and child custody system works today, however, a guy is really in the losing end when it comes to challenging his paternity. Somebody’s gotta support the kid, and since the government would rather shell out our hard-earned taxes to bail out gluttonous banks than provide genuine support for fatherless kids, then that someone might as well be you. 

Let’s look at how the system works (or doesn’t work). If you have doubts about your ex’s fidelity, you only get a limited time to challenge paternity. Some states simply refuse to let a husband challenge his paternity of a child that was born during the marriage. Then there are also some states that will not allow a husband to question paternity beyond two years after the child was born. This means that if you played the good guy for two years and tried to get past your wife’s infidelity in the hope that you can still make your marriage work, the law will consider you in estoppel and make you pay for it. 

If you were never married to the child’s mother, that doesn’t leave you much better off either. Take Rodriguez’ case, for example. The court refused to let him disprove his paternity because he already missed the deadline to do so. Some states provide you with a year after the court order for child support, while some give you only sixty days. The worst states refuse to admit proof of non-paternity after the case has been closed and a child support order has been issued. And even if you are able to submit DNA test results which clearly show that you’re not the biological father, many courts do not accept these results as sufficient proof that you’re not the father, and require other supporting evidence.

All this goes to show that the system is really lopsided when it comes to protecting the rights of everyone involved.  Not only are the rules on child custody and child support harsh on non-custodial parents, these lopsided laws also provide a breeding ground for paternity fraud. So if you have any doubts about paternity, better act on it right away by consulting a child support attorney who can help you determine how you can disprove your paternity. If you dilly-dally on this, you might end up joining the miserable group of men like Rodriguez who are forced to provide child support for eighteen long years to a child they didn’t even father.

Let's go back to everyone's favorite topic: child support fees.

Wait. Is it even possible to cut down your child support fees? And the earth-shattering answer is YES. There are certain instances where a court will allow a cut in child support fees to reflect changes in the non-custodial parent's circumstances. The flip side to this, of course, is that if the changes in your circumstances happen to be on the positive side, then the court may also allow the custodial parent to demand an increase. But given the economic downturn we've been having for the past five years, chances are your change in circumstances probably goes along the line of "I barely have enough to support myself".

Do you really have to go through the court in order to cut down your child support fees? Unfortunately, this is the only way for you to get an "official" reduction of those crazy fees. If you're in good terms with the ex, i.e. you still acknowledge each other's existence as a human being, then it may be possible for the two of you to agree on a smaller amount than what the court ordered. You could very reasonably explain to her, for example, that maybe your unemployment is an acceptable reason to cut down on her annual vacation to the Bahamas with your kid, and she just might agree. But the down side to that is, without a court's approval of your agreed reduction, the reductions will still be recorded as an unpaid balance of your child support fees. This means that when your ex's "evil twin" comes along, she can still set the court's collection dogs to hunt you down and collect the unpaid balance as back support.

How do I go about getting an official reduction?

Modifications or changes in child support fees can be either permanent or temporary, depending on the grounds or reasons for the modification. Among the most common grounds for a permanent change in child support fees are permanent disability of the non-custodial parent and unemployment or drastic decrease in the salary and income of the non-custodial parent. Temporary modifications can also be approved if you're temporarily incapacitated such as when you're recovering from an accident that has thankfully left all your limbs still intact.

To start the process, you'll have to request a hearing with the judge or court that issued the child support order. Then the court will let you present your arguments and evidence as to why the modification should be allowed. Of course, your ex will also be given the chance to present the other side of the story. You can choose to have a lawyer represent you in court, or you could also represent yourself.

One last tip before you go. While some people do a pretty good job representing themselves in court, its still best that you be represented by a child support attorney in your area. They'll know what kinds of evidence the court would accept to prove the change in your circumstances, and they'll be able to respond more effectively to any challenges that the opposing lawyer might throw your way. If you really can't afford to have a child support attorney represent you, then at least shell out some cash to consult one before you hit the court in your Sunday best.

There are ways to make your child support hell a little less hellish, read on to learn more.

Yes, from living through a child support nightmare ourselves, we've come to learn there are a number of things that can actually help you by assisting in the situation. Simple things like making payments early, knowing specific information and having a paper trail can save your life when it comes down to the nitty gritty, comeon, we all know how courts and such get down. It's all about your paperwork at the end of the day.

Tip #1        Get your case file

You have got to know what you are talking about when you bring stuff up with your case worker / attorney. This helps to make sure everyone is on the same page and is using real ammunition... so to speak. Although an attorney would get this information themselves, you yourself still need to be in the know - after all, the case is about you.

A case file can be had by usually calling or visiting your local office and paying a fee for each page. Case files can vary from State to State so the size of the file can get quite large but trust us, this is totally worth the investment!

New technology is being implemented at the Kentucky Child Support Enforcement Program, and administrators hope it will make it simpler for parents who have questions and need access to resources to care for their children.

One of the features will likely be a customer service internet site giving facts including payments, appointments and case status readily available to custodial and noncustodial parents.

The public will be able to access general youngster assistance info and apply for services on the web. And noncustodial mother and father will have the ability to make payments on the net.

The program obtained one-time government money to afford the project. The improvements are under way, and the public will be able to access them as they ready. The project is planned to get completed by August 2012.