Mom Gets A Call From Her Ex's New Wife Demanding She Stop Taking $600 A Month In Child Support Because They 'Can't Survive' Without It
A dad has neglected his responsibilities and now his new wife is left with the mess.
Tatiana Foxy | Shutterstock One frustrated mother is sharing the difficult interaction she was forced to have with her ex-husband’s new wife after he failed to pay child support for four years. His new wife felt that he shouldn’t have to give a dime in child support costs.
Co-parenting is not an easy task, especially if one parent is refusing to do their fair share of providing for the children. Many sets of parents, even if they are not together, can agree that they will do whatever it takes to ensure that their children are supported and well-cared for. Unfortunately, some parents believe that they do not owe their children even the bare minimum.
A mom said her ex-husband's new wife demanded that she stop collecting child support because they ‘can’t survive’ without it.
In a TikTok video that has been viewed millions of times, Brooklyn, a single mother of three, shared a phone conversation she had with her ex-husband’s new wife, Emily, who argued why her husband, Jeff, could not or rather should not have to pay child support for their two children.
Brooklyn said that Emily was “not happy” about Child Support Enforcement garnishing their checks. Garnishment is a legal procedure in which a person’s earnings are required by court order to be withheld by an employer for the payment of a debt, including child support.
Emily immediately blamed Brooklyn for the garnishing of her husband’s checks. However, Brooklyn was quick to remind her that the action had nothing to do with her and was enforced by Child Support Enforcement. She urged Emily to call the Child Support Enforcement Office if she and Jeff were encountering issues. “They will not do anything until we go to court,” Emily claimed.
The ex and his new wife allegedly lived in a homeless shelter for 6 months and are struggling to make ends meet.
Brooklyn questioned whether her ex-husband and new wife were even employed since they didn't seem to have any money to pay what he owes in child support. Emily said that she “works 12-hour days” and “busts her [expletive].”
“Why are you complaining about this money that Jeff owes to his kids?” Brooklyn asked, genuinely concerned and confused. “He doesn’t owe you $600 a [expletive] month!” Emily fired back. “That’s ridiculous!”
At this point, Brooklyn couldn't contain her laughter over the woman’s misunderstanding of the child support payments, putting a hand to her head. “Can you imagine if somebody took $600 off your salary for you to survive?” asked Emily.
“Yes, I could,” Brooklyn responded. She said that she works tirelessly to ensure that everybody and everything is taken care of financially. What's wild is that Emily's complaint is literally what is happening to Brooklyn because of her ex defaulting on his payments.
Brooklyn added in the caption that her video was not directed toward dads who have “busted their [expletive] for their kids” and was instead posted to depict how an uninvolved father who fails to pay child support can affect a family. “I will never feel sorry for someone who WILL not help themselves, let alone their kids,” she wrote, slamming her own baby daddy.
Other TikTok users sided with the mother and slammed her baby daddy and his new wife.
“Girl do not back down. Your kids deserve that money. He should have been responsible from the get-go,” one user commented. “You are a better person than me for even taking her call. Your ex needs to step up and pay what he owes, bottom line, end of discussion,” another user wrote.
“You are the only one thinking about the kids HOLD YOUR GROUND,” a third user praised.
Brooklyn insisted that even without the child support money her children are owed, they are doing “just fine” and she does everything she can to provide for them herself. Her children are and always will be her top priority, even if they are not their father’s.
Failure to pay child support has severe consequences for noncustodial parents.
fizkes | Shutterstock
Child support laws vary depending on the state; however, there are a few common denominators. They can have their driver's license suspended, be charged with civil penalties, and even be incarcerated.
In a follow-up video, Brooklyn shared that her ex-husband has not paid child support for their two children since their divorce in 2019, despite submitting his pay stubs to the court so they could calculate how much he owes each week. He was required to pay $150 weekly.
In December 2022, he received a letter in the mail from Child Support Enforcement threatening jail time if he did not start making his payments on time. Brooklyn added that her ex-husband has additional “legal issues” in other states that she did not specify, which could land him in further trouble.
According to the mother, their children have not seen their father in over a year and a half, because she was concerned about their safety with him. When Child Support Enforcement began garnishing the father’s checks, his wife blamed it on Brooklyn, falsely assuming that there was something she could have done to stop them.
The sad reality is that, in most cases, a parent’s failure to pay child support has sweeping consequences for the kids. Those problems mainly arise from growing up in a home facing financial instability.
According to the American Psychological Association, statistically, kids living in homes with significant debt or facing financial insecurity are more likely to have mental health problems. That's simply because they take on the stress and anxiety that they absorb from their struggling parent. They might even feel "embarrassed about being unable to afford what their peers can."
Luckily, Brooklyn and her kids aren't facing those money problems, but that's not the case for a good number of single moms who need the financial and emotional support their exes simply can't or won't supply. Emily should not be defending her husband in this scenario. If anything, she should be encouraging him to pay what he can, and if their circumstances no longer allow for what the court initially mandated, they should absolutely do what Brooklyn suggested and contact the Child Support Enforcement Office
Megan Quinn is a writer with a bachelor's degree in English and a minor in Creative Writing. She covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on justice in the workplace, personal relationships, parenting debates, and the human experience.
