On July 21, a Florida woman filed an emergency motion seeking an increased amount of child support for her disabled daughter. In her request for a special hearing, the mother of a 3-year-old girl says that her child’s father is not doing enough to assist her with the support of their quadriplegic child.
The father of the toddler, Clint Session, is a former National Football League player previously with the Indianapolis Colts. According to court documents, the child’s mother says that the former outside linebacker has failed to pay medical costs, child support payments and attorney’s fees totaling $200,000 in accordance with a court order handed down in February.
In February, a Broward County judge ordered Session to pay his child’s mother nearly $7,000 per month in ongoing child support payments. That court also awarded the child’s mother a sum of approximately $200,000 in connection with the former NFL player’s arrearages and her associated attorney’s fees.
The attorney representing the child’s mother says that Session’s daughter suffers from cerebral palsy and brain damage. The child’s mother is also reportedly unable to work because of the full-time attention she must devote to the child’s care. The mother believes that Sessions also transferred millions of dollars of his wealth to his parents in an effort to avoid an increased child support obligation. Sessions had previously filed documents with the court stating that he had no income, although the court determined that the former football player had previously written a check worth $5.1 million to his parents.
Sessions’ attorney denied that his client was aware of his child support obligation due to an illness during the December 2014 trial that preceded the child support mandate. The attorney also disagreed with the mother’s claims of nonsupport, indicating that Sessions had made monthly payments to her averaging $2,275 between April 2012 through December 2014.
Florida parents need to know that family courts will hold both parents responsible for supporting their children. This is especially true of children with special needs. This is why it may be important for you to seek the assistance of a Florida family law attorney with experience in child support modifications. An attorney can assist in petitioning the court for greater assistance for your child, or defend you against claims for unnecessary additional support.
Source: Indianapolis Star, “Court: Ex-Colts LB Clint Session owes $200K to support disabled daughter,” Madeline Buckley, July 25, 2015