If you feel the payment and arrearage figures shown by the Friend of the Court computer are wrong, call the accountant assigned to your case or the Friend of the Court Office at 248-858-0424 (between 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.) and ask to speak with your accountant. A statement of your account may be prepared or you can schedule an appointment.
You must be properly prepared before your appointment
Try to get copies of all the court orders issued in your case. This will assist the Friend of the Court in verifying its records.
Bring in your receipts or cancelled checks. Copies of checks must include both the front and back of the checks.
Know ahead of time the amount you have paid to the Friend of the Court total your own checks by years, have the yearly totals at hand, and your accounting will proceed quickly.
If any of the children have married, died, or entered the Armed Services, bring the appropriate proofs and dates.
Did you make these mistakes?
Common errors of payers:
Making four payments per month, and failing to consider this means four missed payments per year. We charge weekly based on the number of Mondays in the year, usually 52 payments per year. Every six years there are 53 Mondays.
Failing to adjust the amount and the number of payments if payments are not made weekly. To ensure that your payment amount is correct, use the following formula: Weekly amount times 52 (number of weeks in the year) divided by the number of pay periods. For example: If your weekly order is $100.00 and you are paid:
Weekly: You will make 52 payments of $100.00
Biweekly: You will make 26 payments of $200.00
Semimonthly: You will make 24 payments of $216.67
Monthly: You will make 12 payments of $433.34
Failing to recall that payments are not made during vacations or other periods (layoffs, strikes) and extra sums were not sent in at a later date to catch up the missed payments.
Failing to pay support when the children are with the paying parent (parenting time). Your support order may or may not include a provision that allows for an abatement of support during parenting time. If your support order does provide for an abatement, it is necessary to advise the Friend of the Court in writing of the dates of parenting time. The Friend of the Court will then send you a written acknowledgement of any abatement. If your support order does not provide for an abatement, no credit will be applied without the consent of the payee.
Making support payments other than through the Friend of the Court. If payments are ordered payable through the Friend of the Court, that is the only way they should be made. The judge may grant credit for direct payments upon proper proof, but this is solely at the judge's discretion.
Failure to inform attorneys that adjustments should be made in the Judgment of Divorce if, for example, the parties attempted a reconciliation and support should have been suspended for a period.
The judge will decide what the orders say
The accountant is not an attorney. Disputes as to interpretation of court orders is left up to a Friend of the Court referee. The judge, of course, has the last say. The judge's interpretation will bind both parties and the Friend of the Court.
