0.1 Client intake: child support enforcement  (Page 2/10)

With this information, the attorney will be able to estimate the complexity of the case and be prepared to quote a fee or set the amount of an initial deposit for legal fees.

Documents for the pnc to gather and bring

Obligee's documents

The obligee, who is the person who would be alleging a violation of the child support order, must supply the following documents at the initial consultation. During the intake call, the person handling the call must provide this list to the PNC.

1. Court order(s) showing obligation that is to be enforced. If the case comes from a county where the attorney has access to court orders through the District Clerk's web site, the attorney can obtain copies of orders even if the client cannot find them. Even on counties that provide on-line access to court orders, an order might be marked as containing sensitive information Rule 21c of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure and thus be inaccessible. To be safe, ask the client to bring a copy of any order that is to be enforced Some counties, such as Harris and Dallas provide free public access to all unsealed case files. However, if the order contains sensitive data (see TRCP 21c), it will not be accessible on-line. Other counties like Collin and Tarrant provide fee-based services where subscribers can look up files for any case or, as in the case of Denton County, subscribers can only look up cases on which they are already attorney of record. Finally, there are a great number of lower-population counties that provide no ability to retrieve documents from their web site such as Rockwall and Hunt counties. .
   
2. Evidence of demand for payment. This does not apply to periodic child support paid through the CSDU. This applies to reimbursement for medical expenses, extracurricular activities, etc.
   

Obligor's documents

The obligor must bring in several types of documents, depending on the defenses to be raised.

1. Court order(s) showing obligation that is to be enforced. See discussion above.
   
2. Evidence of payment. If the obligor is raising the defense that he or she has actually made some or all of the child support payments that are being claimed as arrearages, then the obligor needs to bring copies of all documents, including email messages and text messages, that would tend to prove that he or she actually made payments, whether through the CSDU or directly to the obligee.
   
3. Detailed evidence of income and assets during the period of nonpayment. If the obligor is raising the defense of being unable to make the payments as ordered, then he or she will need to show paystubs, W-2s and 1099s, tax returns, bank statements, and credit card statements covering the period of alleged nonpayment. The attorney will review these documents to determine whether the obligor was paying to the extent of his or her means. Also, if the obligor tried to borrow money to pay the child support, he or she needs to provide evidence of the loans or attempts to secure loans.
   

Exercises

Get your Texas Family Code and Texas Rules of Civil Procedure out and ready. These exercises require that you start thinking through claims and defenses.