Child support for non US Citizen in Georgia

[Jewel]

My child and i are non US Citizens and we reside in Barbados. Her father lives in Atlanta Georgia and is a US Citizen who has never properly supported her whenever i call he never has any money. He previously resided in the state of New York and i took him to court in 2009 when the child was 2 years. i made 2 expensive trips to New York one to file the papers and the other to attend court 6 weeks after ( had to return to work). During the court hearing he did not turn up but was on the telephone with the judge ( i also got to hear him) which is allowed in New York. The judge asked if he was the father of the child which he responded yes, our child has his surname which he oked and signed at the courts in Barbados when he visited when she was 6 months old. Only during the court conversation did i know he had moved to Georgia and he sent to the court proof of a home he bought in Georgia and his utility bills. The judge then told me he the case could not be tried in the state of NY because neither of us resides there. I have his address in Georgia but i need advise on if i should get a lawyer or visit Georgia which is going to be expensive to assist with child support.

[AFFA]

I wish to inform you that you can contact lawyers over phone or email and have quotation for representing in child support cases. In this regard you can have value of travel and compare it with fees of lawyer. You can have list of lawyers and their contact details from list of local attorney who are members of the bar association from website of bar association.

AFF

[Lexus]

The specific laws dealing with child custody are defined according to the state where the child and parents live, but in most states, even a non-American citizen has the right to fight for the custody of his child. The family court takes into account the conditions of a non-citizen, but in most cases, it will give a non-citizen at least the right for child visitations, the right to see and spend time with the child and it will also probably rule for child support.

[Friend In Court]

Originally Posted by Jewel My child and i are non US Citizens and we reside in Barbados. Her father lives in Atlanta Georgia and is a US Citizen who has never properly supported her whenever i call he never has any money. He previously resided in the state of New York and i took him to court in 2009 when the child was 2 years. i made 2 expensive trips to New York one to file the papers and the other to attend court 6 weeks after ( had to return to work). During the court hearing he did not turn up but was on the telephone with the judge ( i also got to hear him) which is allowed in New York. The judge asked if he was the father of the child which he responded yes, our child has his surname which he oked and signed at the courts in Barbados when he visited when she was 6 months old. Only during the court conversation did i know he had moved to Georgia and he sent to the court proof of a home he bought in Georgia and his utility bills. The judge then told me he the case could not be tried in the state of NY because neither of us resides there. I have his address in Georgia but i need advise on if i should get a lawyer or visit Georgia which is going to be expensive to assist with child support.

Since the child resides in Barbados, you will have difficulty maintaining a suit in Georgia, too. Support has to be sought in the jurisdiction in which the child resides. The state of Georgia has no interest nor legal authority to rule on the welfare of a child that resides in Barbados. Unfortunately, that is the case no matter which state you attempt to file -- or country.

In order to collect from the father who resides in Georgia, you would have to MOVE to Georgia, take up residence there. And then the state of Georgia would be able to step into the situation and make orders to provide for the child's welfare.

The only other option is to catch him in Barbados and have him served with papers there.

Family matters are left to the family to mediate. Only when it is necessary to protect the welfare of a child does the government step in. And it must have the legal right to do so -- that the child resides within its borders.

Maybe some day there will be an international treaty that will allow nations to assume power to hold absconding parents accountable for anadoning and failing to support children they leave in another country. But until then, that is what the law states. A court may make support or other orders involving children only when that child is within its borders.