The story of a mother who is at risk of not being able to see her daughter due to her inability to pay child support has been shared.
On the 3rd of last month, on YTN Radio’s Lawyer Jo In-seob’s Counseling Center, a story of a mother who, after her divorce, handed over all custody rights to her ex-husband was revealed.
According to the story, the mother met her husband at a club, they started dating, and they hastily married due to an unexpected pregnancy. Their marriage, born out of a lack of understanding of each other, was only challenging, and ultimately, they ended up divorcing.
At the time, the mother had failed in her business and, unable to afford to raise her child, she handed over custody to her husband without any division of property. Despite her inconsistent income, the mother tried to send child support.
However, the mother’s situation progressively worsened. She had to move to the countryside where her parents lived, and she had to sell her car, making it difficult for her to arrange visitation with her child.
In response to this, the mother asked her ex-husband if she could reduce the number of visitations and instead spend a night with their child, but was harshly denied. Even her plea to bring the child to the bus terminal was also rejected by her ex-husband.
After several months of not being able to see her child, the ex-husband threatened the mother, saying, “If you don’t pay child support, I will sue you. I will no longer let you see our child.”
The mother asked, “I’m not refusing to pay child support because I don’t want to. It hurts. What should I do?”
Lawyer Park Kyung-nae, who heard the story, analyzed, “It seems the mother had a consensual divorce with her ex-husband. After moving and selling her car, her circumstances changed, making it difficult to keep her initial promise of weekly visitations.”
He explained, “If a considerable amount of time has passed since the divorce, the child would have grown to an age where overnight visitation is possible. Typically, overnight visitation can be conducted once the child is 36 months old, but in practice, it often occurs around the time the child starts elementary school.”
He added, “If she can prove that she has moved away from the child’s residence and that the child has grown to an age where overnight visitation is possible due to the passage of time since the divorce, she could request a change in visitation schedule.”
He further stated, “In the process of requesting a change in visitation, if the mother can prove her difficult circumstances, such as the change in residence and lack of a vehicle, and the relatively convenient situation for the ex-husband to hand over the child, there is a possibility that she could request a change in the handover method.”
He added, “She can also seek a preliminary injunction and adjustment procedures, so she can seek a preliminary injunction from the court or try to reach an agreement with the other party through adjustment.”
Moreover, he said, “The execution of visitation rights is not related to the obligation to pay child support. Even if she can’t see the child, she is recognized as having the responsibility to bear the child support as a non-custodial parent.”
Lawyer Park concluded, “The ex-husband can request a child support enforcement order, and if the mother is currently working, she can apply for a direct child support payment order to request child support from her employer directly. Matters related to child support can also be resolved by agreement in the case of a request for a change in visitation.”
By. Kim Dong Hyun
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