Guess What I Got in the Mail Today?

Updated on November 22, 2012
J.B. asks from Boston, MA
10 answers

A CHILD SUPPORT CHECK! I am stunned. My last check was in January 2000, almost 13 years ago (the son for whom I am supposed to be getting support will be 15 in April). My order was established in 1998 - I got a tax refund intercept of about $300 in 1999 and another check for about $30 in 2000 and then the birth father successfully evaded payment and prosecution ever since and I hadn't heard from him since my son was born. He reached out to me via FB over the summer and I slowly collected any info I could and passed it along to child support enforcement but I didn't think they had enough to go on (just the city he lived in and his cell phone number). I assumed they weren't doing anything but lo and behold, someone in the CSE bureaucracy must have actually done some work and a wage garnishment just kicked in. It's only $37 (half of what the weekly payment should be with interest included) and yeah, he still owes me over $30K but I am just pleasantly shocked to have gotten anything at all.

It will be interesting to see if he cuts and runs again now that the wage garnishment is in effect. Time will tell. Even if he does, this feels like a very sweet (if small) victory. So many people over the years told me to close the case and that I'd never see anything from it. Glad I insisted that the case be kept open, just in case.

So...what's the best or most surprising thing that you've ever gotten in the mail? Has something totally caught you off guard lately? Share!

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M.C.

answers from Detroit on

Congrats to you! That's awesome. I had a similar incident many years ago. When my daughter lived with me, my ex was to pay $95 a week in child support. Well, he quit his job and evaded the child support enforcement agency for a few years. One day, in the mail, I got a check for $2625.00--it was my ex's tax refund. He filed his taxes and didn't know it, but since he owed me child support, all the money came to me for back child support. All I can tell you is to not give up. Also, keep in mind, that if your ex ever wins a lottery or wins a legal settlement, there's a good chance you may get what is owed to you. So, DO NOT close the case because you never know when he may get a windfall:)

9 moms found this helpful
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H.W.

answers from Portland on

JB-- I am so happy for you!

Well, here's a short story: there is a couple in our neighborhood who are very unpleasant, to put it politely. The kind of people that make me always remind Kiddo to stay off their front yard. In the eight years or so they've been here, they've never once said hello, they avoid eye contact.

Late in summer, one night, the woman was outside cracking a bullwhip. For.Three.Hours. from 7 until after 10, off and on, CRACK!!!

Last week, I got a promo card in the mail, addressed to the guy.
It was for an event: SEXAPALOOZA.

So much suddenly made sense! After some discussion of the lawfulness and ethics of it, my husband and I agreed that recycling it was the best option. I didn't want to make an already-unfriendly situation fraught and I don't know when they work AND they have a glass front door with a mail slot, so they could see who was bringing it. And that's the most surprising thing I've received lately--someone else's sex mail. ;)

8 moms found this helpful
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T.V.

answers from San Francisco on

Congrats! I hope the checks keep coming. Just goes to show we should never give UP!

3 moms found this helpful
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D..

answers from Charlotte on

My goodness! Wish they could find his bank account!

Dawn

1 mom found this helpful
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D.F.

answers from Boston on

Good for you! Your 37 dollars richer this week!

1 mom found this helpful
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A.V.

answers from Washington DC on

Excellent! My mom settled with our father after my sister graduated HS. Seemed he wanted a legit job at the end and had to pay up.

Sometimes my friends and I send random gifts and I always like those. Friend thought of DD and sent her a handmade toy months after we had discussed it.

1 mom found this helpful

A.G.

answers from Dallas on

Congratulations! I hope there are many more checks to follow!

1 mom found this helpful
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A.U.

answers from Colorado Springs on

.

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B.H.

answers from Los Angeles on

Hopefully this is only the first of many checks. Are you going to give it to your son?

I got two mail-in ballots, for the presidential election, in the mail. Turns out the second one was for a small local issue. Still I thought that was so weird.

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M.R.

answers from Seattle on

Wow, that was a long time in the patience department.

Don't blow it all at once! JK, can't buy much for kids with just $37.

I wonder how your son will take this event? Does he know yet? It will be difficult for him to piece this crazy puzzle together. Let us know how that all pans out.

GL!

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