Virginia lawyer owes half-million dollars in child support
Published: July 11, 2009
CONCORD, N.H.-- A Virginia lawyer has been convicted of failing to pay about a half million dollars in child support in New Hampshire over the last seven years.
Peter Mitrano, 57, of Fairfax, Va., was charged with not paying support that was ordered in 2002 by a judge in Lebanon.
He will be sentenced in October, and faces up to two years in jail.
Reader Reactions
chiefva…you must not know it works do you? The majority of men that fail to pay child support do it because they make that choice. It’s not because they are poor and cannot, it is because they feel like they don’t have to. Also, the courts adn the DCSE are NOT that quick to throw people in jail. My case for instance, my ex owes $15,000. He chose not to pay the child support. Even as an HVAC salesman for sears bringing home $6000 commission checks, he CHOSE not to pay. It’s ridiculous to assume all men that are in debt with child support are poor and unable to pay. They either flat out don’t pay, constantly change jobs to avoid having it removed from paychecks, or work under the table.
It’s the states compelling interest to jail poor people in a “Debtors Prison” if they can not pay child support. If a person does not have it, they can not pay it. Jailing people because they are poor under the guise that they are “in contempt of court” is wrong and is unconstitutional however it is done every day due to the broad power given judges under “Contempt of court rules” but to be in contempt one must do so willfully. No one is willfully poor are they? Should someone be jailed for not being able to pay a credit card company? Remember when a person is jailed they usually lose their job there is no money coming in and then they are getting further behind, not to mention $6000.00 plus a month dollars of the tax payers who foot the bill in the name of “Justice”, None of which benefits the Childs best interest. It however benefits the Commonwealth because they receive Federal money for the DCSE and the Jails, keeping plenty of good jobs for themselves. A real reasonable system our wonderful Commonwealth has, what ever happened to fair and equal justice? I think I will research how many woman as apposed to men are jailed for child support that might be the bases of a class action suite against the DCSE another lesson they need to be taught the hard way. We all supposed to have equil rights and protection against
an oppressive government, with DCSE we do not.
dee65 - I completely understand your frustration with your ex and you are right, it is his loss (and the kids loss).
My concern is not with parents such as yourself, but rather, I am addressing those custodial parents who are using their children as leverage. Unlike your ex, there are many fathers who want to be involved in their kids lives and to be more than a paycheck; however they are either not allowed to by the mother or the courts—we all know of those cases and as you alluded to, it is difficult for both parents when there is animosity between them. However, there are some parents who can work through their differences and work out an amicable solution for everyone concerned. It is frequently when the system gets involved that problems occur. Maybe instead of a pre-nup, couples should sign a “child-nup” :-) which outlines exactly what is expected should they have children. OR: since the courts are so involved in every other aspect of our lives, perhaps they could mandate that parents can’t get a divorce until the kids are 18—That should make for some very interesting dinner-time (or bedtime) conversations! LOL!
dee65 - My mom was right. Don’t lay down with anyone you don’t want to wake up with. :-)
Both parents need to find a happy medium and realize the kids are the number one priority.
I’m not upset, I am concerned that people always see the custodial parent as one that wants to live off the child support and that’s not always the case. Like the poster Phil just said that often child support is a disguise for alimony, I have a hard time understanding that. So some parents are willing to sacrifice their child’s well being because they feel that they don’t want to pay “alimony”. How immature is that! That’s why I don’t even bother, I figured if the father isn’t willing to pay then he also doesn’t have a right to claim anything when it comes to his children. I look at my kids and feel sad for him not them because he’s missing out on great kids and all because he wants to be petty about supporting them. That’s what the point is when it comes to child support, pettiness and meaness on both sides.
I think for the father’s that can afford to make child support payments, but don’t, they typically fall into two categories. The first being the dead beat dad. They just don’t pay because they don’t care. Then you have the other type who don’t pay as a point. Often the child support is nothing more than alimony disguised as child support. That doesn’t make it right, but that is often the case.
Someone mentioned move to Hanover and they are right. The odds are automatically stacked against the father. There are just as many good single parent fathers as there are good single parent mothers, but in an equal society, things like custody and child support often are very unequal.
dee65 - I mean that is true, but let’s not try to be judgemental in this one. I was just giving an example. You take whatever you want out of the situation. I know how much a child cost because…. I have a child! So don’t think that the money that my child gets is the only money that is being spent. Hence I said, I am not a deadbeat. Everyone situation is different. I am just saying it should be a case by case basis, not all lumped together. The system sucks and that is the underlying factor. This system let this lawyer get away with not paying 500 grand while I go one time being late and got drilled a new one. Go figure. I am not angry at my situation, just sharing to the other posters. dee65, you seem a little upset? :-) Maybe in your case you should have paid attention huh? J/K
And yes the children do lose in the long run, but my child is well taken care of…
jbee73-I guess you should have paid attention to your mother and not layed down with anyone. How is one supposed to know who’s going to be a deadbeat dad or a greedy ex-wife? or the other way around? There are deadbeat mothers and there are greedy ex-husbands.
You can fix the system but there will always be those you will get out of paying and those who want more no matter what. Raising children is not cheap, food, clothing,medical care, child care, not to mention any special needs and ah yes school supplies for 12 years because you know public school isn’t free anymore. Let’s see I have twins that are 14 so personal need products run about $35 on low side including shampoo,soap,toothpaste and toilet paper. Then there’s school lunches ( we don’t qualify for free or reduced) $2.00 in HS or more p/day p/child. Beginning of year in Henrico county $50 each for lap top insurance ( non-refundable) plus school supplies depending on classes about $75-85 p/child. Food and clothing varies but on low side food $400 a month if you eat noodles and rice most days. Clothes , from thrift shops and or hand me downs very few news items, shoes have to be new. Co-pays for doctor $25 p/child hopefully you have healthy kids but if you have one like mine with allergies and heart problems can run into the hundreds a month with medication. Then there’s the “extra” items such as field trips for school, sports events including uniforms and any other equipment that is needed. In my case soccer and violin.
Everyone that has gone through the child support process whether as a non-custodial or custodial parent has a horror story and they are all valid but its the children that loose in the end. I never demanded anything from my twins father except what was fair but he like others on this forum thought that I would spend the money on me and not the kids, well how wrong he was, in my case we did get a $15,000 check from a lawsuit he filed and won and that check went straight into a college fund and not one dime was used. He tried to sue me to get the money back because he felt that his kids didn’t have a right to it because he was the one that got hurt and he needed the money. The court saw it different and the money stayed in the college fund. So the money that he owes in back child support wouldn’t even begin to cover all the expenses I have had to cover for my kids especially in medical which amounted to over $100,000 of which I still owe a huge chunk and making payments. So don’t be so quick to judge the custodial parents, its the system that doesn’t work.
jbee73, and I wish I was getting what 123456 was getting for it seems just 1 child, but we can’t always get what we want. :)
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