When a parent fails to make child support payments the state of Florida will withhold their tax return and use it to pay back any past-due payments. While this policy seems far enough it becomes a problem when a person is wrongly identified as a child’s father. 

This happened to 22-year-old Rusty Cole, a National Guardsman from Port Orange. The state withheld his tax return because they had records indicating Cole was the father of a child born in 1995. The only problem is Cole has never met the mother and was seven years old at the time the child was born, basically making it impossible for him to be the father.

Dependent on that money and desperate to receive it, Cole continuously made efforts to contact the department of revenue but to no avail. Progress was finally made when Cole wrote an e-mail to Governor Charlie Crist explaining the mix-up. Cole finally received an apology from the department with the promise that his return would be processed right away.

Cole’s not getting his hopes up yet. He said he will not feel any relief until his tax return is safely in his hands and he can say for certain that this will never happen again. He also wants the ordeal taken completely off his record.

Have you been wrongfully accused of owing child support? If so, an experienced  Jacksonville family law attorney at Ellerin Hutchinson can help. To arrange a consultation to discuss your case, please contact the office today by calling (904) 866-4489 or by filling out an online case evaluation.