I have been self employed for the past several years, but working through a company that provided me an office, advertising, and clients. That company has recently closed and so I have went from self employed to unemployed. I have probably sent out over 200 resumes and only get phone calls from companies that are scams are 100% commission which I cannot rely on to pay my bills. Not only have I fallen behind on my mortgage (in foreclosure), my car payment (about to be repoed) and every other bill I have, of course, I have also fallen behind on child support. My ex wife who is remarried and both her & her husband work and make really good money, has agreed that she would be willing to temporarily allow me to stop paying child support for the next two months, and then when I start paying again, just add a minimum of $50 additional towards the arrears. I have a friend who works for the courthouse in the county which I live, but my child support is filed in a neighboring county. I was told that if my ex & I filled out a form called, "Joint Stipulation to Modify Child Support", had it notarized that we both signed it, and filed it with the courts, that would temporarily work. I did that, but the county I filed it with, the clerk was EXTREMELY rude, and said I could file it, but "it would do no good" that I needed a hearing! When I look on this county website (Seminole county) it states that stipulations do not require a hearing! I need some help on if there are any additional steps I need to take. We did not want to go through the process of doing a permanent modification, although I feel if we did, my child support would be dropped since the children are no longer in daycare and she makes a considerable amount more money than she used to. Please help as I am being threatened with having my license suspended and then how am I expected to go pick my children up (they live an hour away) or to find work? I am a great father and my kids are my world. I have even applied at jobs like 7-11 & Publix to try to get some $$, but those places wont hire me because I am way overqualified!

I have been self employed for the past several years, but working through a company that provided me an office, advertising, and clients. That company has recently closed and so I have went from self employed to unemployed. I have probably sent out over 200 resumes and only get phone calls from companies that are scams are 100% commission which I cannot rely on to pay my bills. Not only have I fallen behind on my mortgage (in foreclosure), my car payment (about to be repoed) and every other bill I have, of course, I have also fallen behind on child support. My ex wife who is remarried and both her & her husband work and make really good money, has agreed that she would be willing to temporarily allow me to stop paying child support for the next two months, and then when I start paying again, just add a minimum of $50 additional towards the arrears. I have a friend who works for the courthouse in the county which I live, but my child support is filed in a neighboring county. I was told that if my ex & I filled out a form called, "Joint Stipulation to Modify Child Support", had it notarized that we both signed it, and filed it with the courts, that would temporarily work. I did that, but the county I filed it with, the clerk was EXTREMELY rude, and said I could file it, but "it would do no good" that I needed a hearing! When I look on this county website (Seminole county) it states that stipulations do not require a hearing! I need some help on if there are any additional steps I need to take. We did not want to go through the process of doing a permanent modification, although I feel if we did, my child support would be dropped since the children are no longer in daycare and she makes a considerable amount more money than she used to. Please help as I am being threatened with having my license suspended and then how am I expected to go pick my children up (they live an hour away) or to find work? I am a great father and my kids are my world. I have even applied at jobs like 7-11 & Publix to try to get some $$, but those places wont hire me because I am way overqualified!

You will need to file a petition for a temp modification and attach the agreement to it.

ETA: Is the DOR CSE involved in your case?
If they are, you'll need to give them a copy of the petition and the agreement. BTW- Be sure to request that the modification be retro back to the date you and ex choose.

Thanks for the response. Yes, DOR is involved and they have sent me a notification that they are going to suspend my florida fishing license which I don't care about, but I know that means they will be going after my dl next which is what I am worried about!

So, where could I find the form for petition for temporary modification? Also, would that require both my ex wife & I submitting all the financial affidavits and family plans & so forth that a normal modification would require? That is what we were really trying to both avoid.

Thanks for the response. Yes, DOR is involved and they have sent me a notification that they are going to suspend my florida fishing license which I don't care about, but I know that means they will be going after my dl next which is what I am worried about!

So, where could I find the form for petition for temporary modification? Also, would that require both my ex wife & I submitting all the financial affidavits and family plans & so forth that a normal modification would require? That is what we were really trying to both avoid.

You can find the forms at www.flcourts.org