# Deadbeat Dad-- erl's IRL case **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 30, 2001, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadbeat-dad-erls-irl-case/84678 "2001-09-30T23:49:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![KellyM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/57b2e6/32.png) [@KellyM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KellyM)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2001, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadbeat-dad-erls-irl-case/84678/41 "2001-10-02T22:05:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jodi \* > \*\*I do think the letter you wrote – if your father has it, and if he produces it – presents a real obstacle. It could be read as a knowing waiver of your rights, and the fact that you were not old enough _at law_ to enter into a _contract_ may not mean you were not old enough _at equity_ to waive certain rights – especially since you were, in your own words, “almost eighteen” anyway. > \*\* I disagree. First of all, nonsupport is second only to terrorism in the list of things that we Just Don’t Stand For in our society. I can’t imagine too many courts are going to go very far to apply equitable doctrine to deny a CP recovery against a nonsupporting NCP. Secondly, it’s not **erislover** ’s claim to make, but rather her mother’s. Erislover cannot waive her mother’s claim to the arrearage, at least not as long as her mother remains alive and competent. At most her letter can be taken as a waiver of **her own** claim to the arrearage for unpaid CS due during majority, if any. Of course, state law varies. But I strongly suspect that if erislover’s father has the resources to pay the arrearage now and erislover’s mother pursues it, she will win, if for no other reason than that our courts really have no sympathy whatsoever for people who don’t pay child support. For any reason. ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2001, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadbeat-dad-erls-irl-case/84678/42 "2001-10-02T22:13:08Z")
You are of course free to strongly suspect whatever your analysis of the situation dictates, KELLY, as, of course, am I. The fact is that neither of us practice in ERIS’s jurisdiction and neither of us know the facts of the case well enough to make a prediction that is worth much of anything – which was kind of my point in the first place. So my last guess in this thread is that ERIS is male, unless I’ve been much mistaken. Which is always possible. ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadbeat-dad-erls-irl-case/84678/43 "2001-10-03T00:48:56Z")
Well, I’ll post any new information to the thread as it comes in, but I do want to ask people (who perhaps haven’t made it clear) are you taking the side you’re taking because of the law, or because of your personal opinion? If it is your opinion, do you feel like the parent child relationship is a far-extended social contract? ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadbeat-dad-erls-irl-case/84678/44 "2001-10-03T00:50:05Z")
Oh yeah, and last I checked my profile confirmed my own suspicions: I am male 😉 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Infidel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/839c29/32.png) [@Infidel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infidel)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2001, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadbeat-dad-erls-irl-case/84678/45 "2001-10-03T01:20:57Z")
Was your father ever under a court order to pay child support? This may have a bearing on your situation. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deadbeat-dad-erls-irl-case/84678.md?page=2)