arrearages?
I am sure there was some of that, skips in employment.
But after 25 years? Looks like someone would have told him about the death of the child. Suspect the mother did not want to reduce her income and the courts said, “he is out of state” so we will make it as difficult as possible.
I honestly have no knowledge of the details of this, but I am not surprised about “bureaucratic efficiency” in Detroit. /sarcasm