Whistleblower: Child support held hostage

Mari Weiss is waiting for thousands of dollars in child support, money she needs to keep her home in Lakeland out of foreclosure. But the deadbeat isn't her ex-husband -- it's the state of Minnesota.

Last year, Weiss' ex-husband and his new wife agreed to hand over their tax refund to help support Weiss' 16-year-old daughter. In May, nearly $4,000 showed up in her child support account.

Three months later, Weiss still can't touch it. The Minnesota Department of Human Services, which is charged with helping custodial parents collect child support, is keeping the cash until the end of November. It's department policy to put a six-month hold on child support payments from tax refunds, in case the new spouse of a non-custodial parent tries to get some of the money back.

Currently, about 2,400 people are waiting for the department to release such tax refunds. The department is sitting on a total of $3.5 million, or an average of more than $1,400 per parent.

In the agency's view, the policy protects the rights of everybody involved in the situation. But for families such as the Weisses, in which even ex-spouses see eye-to-eye as to where the money should go, it seems as though child support is being held hostage.

"It's so wrong that we're the ones suffering, while that money is sitting there," said Weiss, 47, who works as a compliance manager at a bank.

Her ex-husband, Todd, agrees: "Now the money is available and I'm not able to get it to my daughter," he said. "It's absolutely absurd."

Families working together

Until he lost his job two years ago, Todd Weiss always managed to cover child support payments for his daughter, Alex. But by last September, he was behind almost $5,000. His former wife went to court, where the divorced couple reached a solution: Mari Weiss would get all the proceeds from the joint tax refund of her ex-husband and his new wife. He'd also chip in a little extra on his monthly payments to make up the difference.

At the end of May, the $3,904.68 refund was credited to Weiss' account with the state child support division. She was relieved. Unexpected medical costs, including her daughter's braces, had made it impossible for her to keep up with her bills.

But instead of getting the money, Weiss was told to be patient. DHS officials informed her that federal law allows the spouse of a person who has certain kinds of debt, including child support, to keep their portion of a tax refund. In fact, Todd Weiss' new wife has six years to claim the money.

To help her stepdaughter, the new Mrs. Weiss immediately signed a waiver saying that she wouldn't do that.

"When there are families that can agree that the most important thing is the child and the money is available, give them the money," Todd Weiss said.

Previously, the state released child support funds after receiving such a guarantee. But it stopped doing that in 1999, after a few cases in which people who had signed waivers asked the Internal Revenue Service for their refunds anyway. In those situations, the state had already turned over the money to the custodial parents. The department was on the hook to collect the amount still owed.

"It was abused by some people, and that caused us to back off from allowing the waivers," said Chuck Johnson, DHS' assistant commissioner of children and family services.

Johnson couldn't say how much money the state lost because of those abuses.

Johnson said that he understands how a six-month delay isn't ideal, but he insisted that custodial parents have a better chance of getting child support if the state can seize tax refunds, rather than leaving that cash in the hands of non-custodial parents.

"Those kinds of tools bring more money to families in a more timely way than if we didn't have those tools," he said.

But state Rep. Julie Bunn, DFL-Lake Elmo, said that Weiss' situation raises questions about enforcement of the policy and the possible need for a hardship exemption. Bunn, who was asked to intervene in the matter by Mari Weiss, said she wants the department to explain its rationale for withholding funds, and to look into changes that would "prevent this from happening in this way."

"I think it's very unfortunate," said Bunn, who serves on two DHS oversight committees.

Down to $169

For now, Weiss has $169 in her bank account and is two months behind on her mortgage. Her late fees are piling up, but so far her lender has refused to modify the loan.

"We will most likely lose our house due to the non-release of these funds," Weiss said in a letter to child support workers this summer.

Johnson said there might be one option for Weiss to get money sooner. But it's complicated.

Todd Weiss' current wife could file a claim for her portion of the tax refund and send that money back to the state once she gets a check. DHS, he added, would make sure that the money gets to Mari Weiss. The other advantage to this approach, he said, is that such an action would allow the state to release Todd Weiss' share of the joint refund to his ex-wife.

But there are just a few problems. The new Mrs. Weiss could change her mind and keep the cash. And even if she follows through, there's no guarantee that Mari Weiss would get her $3,904.68 any sooner than the end of November, when she is scheduled to get the money.

Lora Pabst • 612-673-4628