My daughter's struggle with receiving child support

She has a 6 year old.
Never married.
Father has been involved somewhat, lives local, they broke up when child was 2.
He watches the child approximately 8-10 days per month.
Never has gone to court. Always "worked it out" with the father.

Now he does not work. Refuses too.
His Mom supports him. My daughter has to beg each month for about $250 and also he covers the child's health and dental.

The worst part is that he will get pissy with my daughter and threaten to not pay anything. He did not pay for the first year they were apart.
He get's jealous and plays games with the support. He has done this for years. His Mom covers his expenses so she is actually the one paying so one I say "he pays" then keep that in mind.
I think my daughter needs to go to court and investigate child custody and support.
She needs to get this firmly in place.

Some problems:
His mom does taxes for a living.
She has done my daughters taxes (I know...bad idea) and he has claimed the child and gotten the child tax credits for some of the years even though my daughter has custody well over 50% of the time.
Could this be a problem in determining custody?

What is in place to enforce payment? I am sure he will go crazy when the court papers come in and rebel.

Thanks for any advice.
I am trying to help her and know this is a long and potentially terrible road ahead.

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[tbyte]

Is there no child support order right now?
Is there no custody order right now?

Your daughter has custody.
Period.
No question about that.

Originally Posted by tbyte Is there no child support order right now? Is there no custody order right now? Your daughter has custody. Period. No question about that.

Nothing legal yet.
I wish they could have worked it out but they can't.

What about who claims the child as "Head of Household"?
Will that be taken in to consideration by the court as "proof" of who had her over 50% of the time even though not true? I realize she was dumb for allowing this.

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[tbyte]

Stop worrying about custody.
The tax issue is completely irrelevant, and is not considered when determining custody.

Go to court. Establish child support. Establish visitation.

Originally Posted by tbyte Stop worrying about custody. The tax issue is completely irrelevant, and is not considered when determining custody. Go to court. Establish child support. Establish visitation.

Thank you.
She is going today.

What can she expect?
Will they have counselors there to help her through the process?
She cannot afford an attorney right now.

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[tbyte]

No, they will not have counselors. They are not supposed to supply legal advice in any way, though they may direct her to the correct forms and let her know what procedure to follow.
See if there is a women's advocacy group in your area that can help guide her through the process.
If she asks for a Shared Parenting plan where she is the Residential Parent and the father has standard visitation, and he is agreeable, then they should not need a lawyer.
The tax exemption should go to whoever would receive the greatest benefit from it, from year to year.