My Son's Father Is Working Under The Table

by Eve
(Buffalo, NY,USA)

My story is pretty simple: My son's father works part-time for UPS and part-time for his step father’s dry cleaning business. He has been doing this for 10 years (maybe more). The problem is every time we go to court his lawyer tells him (court appointed) to not show up until he has a very low paycheck and then the judge calculates on an estimate basis what his payments should be (he has 5 children total) He never fills out an Income Affidavit and always cries broke. I can't afford a lawyer and my son is getting older so that means costs for him are increasing. The judge deems him as "at the poverty line" without doing a formal investigation or whether or not he's picking up overtime (which he always does).

I also have court ordered, that he is supposed to provide full coverage health insurance (which he does) BUT I cannot get any information from either UPS or United Healthcare regarding the coverage.

I have no ID card, which they only issue one to him. So I need a copy as well as everything regarding the coverage. BUT he currently is incognito-no phone, no current address, nothing. If it wasn't for the fact that child support ($210) is taken from his check each month I wouldn't know he existed. This man knows (along with his lawyer-who side note also represents his father who has 19 kids with various women) how to work the system. I have no problem doing my own research filing my own paperwork, but I need to know LEGALLY what I am entitled to do, what will stick in court, etc. New York, unlike other states is less entitled to work for the mother/father in custody of the child.