Does suspend child support start at petition date or judge agrees date?

Q:  my ex has alienated me from my children. my children do not want to see me however they are twin 10 year olds. my ex has full custody because I was given bad advice from my first lawyer. I have another lawyer now. my ex was found in contempt of court and violated the custody agreement many times over. I have filed that I should not pay child support until regular visitations resume. when the judge supports my petition to suspend child support while we work on getting regular visitations (there are none now at all) does that start from the date we filed petition to suspend child support (as we said in petition) or does it only start on the day that the judge authorizes our petition?


A:  David's Answer:  Generally relief is granted retroactive to the date of your petition. If you wish to make the argument (likely to be unsuccessful in any event) that relief may be granted prior to that, it should have been alleged in your petition. That said, any implication by other attorneys that you cannot get a reduction or suspension of child support based on the custodial parent's willful violation of visitation is simply dead wrong. There is a plethora of appellate cases from all around the state which supports your argument (see, e.g., Lew v. Sobel, 91 A.D.3d 648, 936 N.Y.S.2d 554 (2d Dept. 2012)). Schedule a consultation with a Rockland/Westchester Child Support lawyer for a full assessment. -- David Bliven, Westchester Child Support attorney (www.blivenlaw.net)