<p>I am a mother of a fist year student to go to college. Ive been divorced since 1996, my divorce was first presented as domestic violence and then separation. In the sentence it was stipulated that my ex would pay child support, it lasted until 2001. Then, Ive been on my own with my two and only kids. Now the universities that she is applying wants me to write a letter explaining our circumstances, but we haven’t seen nor heard from my daughter’s father since 2001. I know that he is alive but don’t have any information about his whereabouts. My children hasn’t received any child support nor have heard of him and his family since 2001. It was a very bad divorce so, we did don’t have any contact at all. How do I explain this. Eventhough I need the child support, because of his state of mind and temper, I did not want to do with these issues. I’ve been taking care of my children being a working mom and with some support of my parents.
How do I begin a letter with this situation.</p>
<p>I would just be simple and to the point. Explain that you have had no contact with your daughter’s father since 2001 and have no idea where he is or how to locate him. Explain that you have not received any child support of any kind from him since that date. If you want to, you can submit your tax return from last year that will indicate no child support. I don’t think you need to go into detail about the abusive relationship. The college essentially wants to know how much money they can reasonably expect from the dad. Obviously, the answer is none.</p>
<p>Thank you for this reply. I really appreciated.</p>
<p>A friend of mine was in a similar situation, although she knew more-or-less where her ex was (she kept taking him to court to try to collect child support from him). He had not seen her twins in 8 years when they applied to college. She wrote a letter explaining how he had not been in their lives and that he was in arrears for child support and then asked the colleges to contact her if they needed further info. Responses ranged from taking her at her word to requiring extensive financial disclosures to asking for a corroborating letter re lack of contact. The kid’s therapist ended up writing a letter saying that to his knowlege there had been no contact. If there is a therapist, teacher, religious leader, etc. who could write a letter backing you up it would probably be helpful, but I don’t think it’s necessary to provide it unless the college asks for it.</p>
<p>CMIRA003, there is a poster on these boards who is a working FA professional and has advised people in the past on these things. You might try searching for past posts from kelsmom on this subject, or send her a PM if she doesn’t see this thread and respond. Good luck!</p>
<p>Thank you! And yes, I called our therapist regarding this matter and he will be writing a letter, thank God. I am having a lawyer friend of mine write a letter also.</p>
<p>Thank you sk8mom. I will try to read Kelsmom’s post.</p>