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‘Child' in support case is a granddad - 81-year-old mother says payments are 60 years overdue
Houston Chronicle ^ | April 5, 2010, 6:55AM | MIKE TOLSON

Posted on 04/05/2010 11:28:11 AM PDT by a fool in paradise

Fights over children — who gets custody, how much for child support — are at the heart of any family law court on any given day. The faces change, but the stories and disputes rarely do.

So it is on today's docket in the Los Angeles courtroom of Judge Elia Weinbach. At least on paper. The dispute between Rosemary Douglas and Urban Joseph Grass over back child support seems familiar: She claims he never paid; he says he never knew.

In this case, however, the mom has a head of gray hair and has been collecting Social Security for more than a decade. The father was born in the heart of the Jazz Age, when a fellow named Coolidge resided in the White House. And the “child” in question is that only on some yellowing piece of paper. In real life he is a retired grandfather.

“He was ordered to do something. He didn't do it,” said the 81-year-old Douglas. “He didn't challenge it, not legally anyway. I'd always thought about this. It was never far from my mind. Finally I decided, why not? Why not try one more time?”

The story began in 1950. Douglas got pregnant and was not married. She insists Grass was the father and that he wanted nothing to do with her. After her son Gerald was born, she said she went to court to get an order for child support because she had no alternative.

(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...


TOPICS: Society; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: childsupport; deadbeatdad; lawsuit; napl; tortreform
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1 posted on 04/05/2010 11:28:11 AM PDT by a fool in paradise
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To: Slings and Arrows; Revolting cat!
NAPL!

"My baby needs child support for his old age!"

2 posted on 04/05/2010 11:29:09 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (VP Biden on Obamacare's passage: "This is a big f-ing deal". grumpygresh: "Repeal the f-ing deal")
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To: a fool in paradise
Isn't there some kind of statute of limitations on child support, for cripes' sake? In the back of my mind, I'm seeing a remake of "A Girl Named Sue", but instead of a saloon in Gatinburg in mid July, it's set in a retirement home in Fort Lauderdale. I have visions of flying tapioca and swinging crutchs and walkers.

"Hi, my name is Sue and you're gonna die!"
"Tell me something I don't know, Sonny!"

"He bit like he had teeth and kicked me with his walker; I tell ya I fought older men, just can't remember when."

3 posted on 04/05/2010 11:36:13 AM PDT by Lonesome in Massachussets (The naked casuistry of the high priests of Warmism would make a Jesuit blush.)
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To: Lonesome in Massachussets

LOL - I like your warped sense of humor.


4 posted on 04/05/2010 11:43:25 AM PDT by OneWingedShark (Q: Why am I here? A: To do Justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God.)
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To: a fool in paradise

Why would a mother “give up” on recovering child support for her child when the alleged father is a LTC in the Air Force?


5 posted on 04/05/2010 11:51:36 AM PDT by iowamark
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To: Lonesome in Massachussets
"Isn't there some kind of statute of limitations on child support, for cripes' sake?"

Sort of. If you wait an unreasonably long time to assert a claim you know you have (ie. "sleep on your rights") it can be barred later on if the delay causes prejudice to the other party. It is known as the legal doctrine of latches.

6 posted on 04/05/2010 12:01:11 PM PDT by circlecity
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To: a fool in paradise

I noticed this section was repeated twice in the article:
Now a widow, Douglas said she could use the $57,000 that she claims Grass owes her, which includes ever-rising interest. But more important than the money, she said, is the principle. When she managed to locate him in Texas, she hired a process server to deliver court papers.

I think that is the reason she’s pushing the case, for enough money to fund her retirement for a year or two.

But there should be a statute of limitations on debt involved. Even the most liberal courts say you can’t go forward after 12 years - and this is half a century.


7 posted on 04/05/2010 12:05:55 PM PDT by tbw2 (Freeper sci-fi - "Humanity's Edge" - on amazon.com)
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To: a fool in paradise

What does NAPL mean?


8 posted on 04/05/2010 12:06:08 PM PDT by tbw2 (Freeper sci-fi - "Humanity's Edge" - on amazon.com)
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To: a fool in paradise; MeekOneGOP; Conspiracy Guy; DocRock; King Prout; Darksheare; OSHA; ...


9 posted on 04/05/2010 12:08:37 PM PDT by Slings and Arrows (FUBO! FUNP! FUHR! FUBS!)
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To: tbw2

Not a PING list PING!


10 posted on 04/05/2010 12:21:37 PM PDT by a fool in paradise (VP Biden on Obamacare's passage: "This is a big f-ing deal". grumpygresh: "Repeal the f-ing deal")
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To: a fool in paradise

“Okay but I get him on weekends.”


11 posted on 04/05/2010 12:26:23 PM PDT by Larry Lucido
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To: a fool in paradise

Wouldn’t it be a hoot if old coot requested a DNA test and it turned out he wasn’t the Baby Daddy? Now that’s a Maury episode I would DVR to watch!


12 posted on 04/05/2010 12:29:07 PM PDT by autumnraine (America how long will you be so deaf and dumb to the chariot wheels carrying you to the guillotine?)
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To: a fool in paradise

Calling Maury Povich!


13 posted on 04/05/2010 12:56:45 PM PDT by Terry Mross (Founding Fathers.....grave....rolling over.)
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To: a fool in paradise

In Texas once the child reaches the age of 26 it’s over with. At least that’s how it used to be.

If this lady remarried and her and her husband claimed the kid as a dependent then I think the IRS should hit her for back taxes if she gets money from the old dude.


14 posted on 04/05/2010 12:59:30 PM PDT by Terry Mross (Founding Fathers.....grave....rolling over.)
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To: Terry Mross

Child support is taxed before given to the custodial parent. I do not know how long claiming a stepchild (not claimed by another taxpayer has been allowed.


15 posted on 04/05/2010 1:43:11 PM PDT by texteacher
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To: Slings and Arrows

Sometimes I think, “What if we had had kids?” Then something like this comes up and I heave a sigh of relief. Again.


16 posted on 04/05/2010 2:00:47 PM PDT by TheOldLady (CLKD: Commie Loon Kenyan Dictator)
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To: Slings and Arrows; a fool in paradise
This child support case gives the word, "Retroactive" a whole new meaning.




17 posted on 04/05/2010 2:10:20 PM PDT by Lady Jag (Double your income... Fire the government)
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To: texteacher

The guy didn’t pay. The guy who raised the kid claimed him as a dependent. If the original guy has to pay up he should be able to go back and amend all of his tax returns claiming another dependent.

Now the decree states which parent can claim the child as a tax dependent. When I got divorced it was “whoever spends the most money”. My lawyer advised me to claim the dependents and if she claimed them too and if it ever came up with the IRS I’d win. Well, guess what. It IRS called me in and told me I’d been caught in a rule change and I owed extra taxes for three years. Never is fair.


18 posted on 04/05/2010 2:38:49 PM PDT by Terry Mross (Founding Fathers.....grave....rolling over.)
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To: circlecity

Why is there a “family” court? What happened to the regular courts? If someone wants to divorce their spouse, why isn’t there a jury trial?


19 posted on 04/05/2010 2:58:50 PM PDT by Freedom4US
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To: TheOldLady

All my kids have paws.


20 posted on 04/05/2010 3:41:18 PM PDT by Slings and Arrows (FUBO! FUNP! FUHR! FUBS!)
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