Opinion ID: 1274534
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: belcher

Text: This action involves two separate obligors who have attempted to evade their respective child support obligations by entering into cash employment arrangements with their employers. The stipulated facts [2] reveal that on October 6, 1987, the obligor, Timothy Belcher, and the petitioner, Darlene Belcher, were granted a divorce in which Mr. Belcher was ordered to pay thirty dollars per month child support. Mr. Belcher paid nothing in 1988, a total of ninety dollars in 1989 and nothing in 1990. Since the late fall of 1989, Mr. Belcher was employed by Dennis Browning d/b/a Dude's Used Auto Sales, as a mechanic. Mr. Belcher and his employer entered into an agreement whereby the employer paid Mr. Belcher's wages in cash without making any payroll deductions and without reporting the payment of these wages or paying any payroll taxes to the appropriate state and federal authorities. In January 1990, the petitioner filed a request for services with the respondent Child Advocate Office (hereinafter referred to as CAO) in the Lincoln County office. The petitioner's request provided the CAO with information and evidence regarding Mr. Belcher's employment status. From January 1990 through June 1990, the petitioner continually advised the CAO of the obligor's continued employment, the type of employment and the specific location of the employment. The CAO consistently denied the existence of the obligor's employment, refused to investigate the petitioner's reports that the obligor was employed, refused to take legal steps to recover the support payments due, and maintained that there was absolutely no potential for collecting any child support. Consequently, in July 1990, the petitioner filed a complaint in the Circuit Court of Lincoln County, West Virginia, against the obligor and his employer, seeking a declaration relative to nonpayment of child support on the part of the obligor and the unlawful employment remuneration arrangement between the obligor and his employer. As a result of this complaint, a settlement order [3] was entered on December 10, 1990, between the petitioner, Mr. Belcher, and his employer. The CAO never took any action against the employer.