This is me trying to raise funds to do a one-time "lump sum" payment to finish off arrears in child support. The total amount of arrears is much higher - this is a compromise between us...a number we mutually agreed to, in order to get this over with (yes, you can do that). This way she gets a nice lump of cash, and I get my life back. You may ask, shouldn't that be my responsibility? Yes. absolutely...I'd normally agree. But there are a couple big asterisks here.

1- this will be a "one and done" type of thing- if I can manage to make this happen... I restart my life...no more random license revocations and getting fired, no more getting hauled into court and getting temporarily locked up (and getting fired), etc. This has been going on for the majority of my adult life, and it has a lot to do with I don't have much. To be clear...Im not complaining about that, I'm just trying to explain - after this I won't need to ask for help again, it will open up possibilities I haven't had in decades.

2- It's not that I never paid support, I paid a ton. But there were some massive irregularities in the bookkeeping on the state's part. The biggest one being, we (me and the ex) tried to get back together at one point and make it work. That obviously didn't work out (I'm as much to blame for that as anyone), but when the state re-started the payments...instead of just restarting the original account, they made a whole new one. So while I was paying my "real" payment, there was another, purely fictional "secondary" payment racking up in the background. That's basically what the arrears are-where they came from. Shouldn't I have tried to straighten it out? Yes, absolutely. In fact, I did try. Several times. I paid for 3 separate audits. Every time they came back saying everything was correct and that I needed to pay support for my 2 kids. Problem is, there isn't 2 kids!!! Just one! So at this point I could either pay for a lawyer and fight it out, or pay her off. Honestly, I'm thankful she even entertained this whole idea...I'd rather give her the money and we both go our own ways peacefully.

I know it will probably just be friends and family that read this. Look guys, I know people have wanted to help me over the years, and I know I'm not an easy person to help. I don't like asking for help, never have. But this is a biggie, we're talking about turning a new page in my life. I still feel kind of yucky doing this, even now. But this is a time sensitive issue - she's open to this right now, but that could change at any point. I really need to get this done while the opportunity is there. There are a few really pivotal moments in every person's life, I really feel like this is one of those for me, or again- I wouldn't be asking. If I had ANY way to make this happen on my own, I wouldn't be doing this. But I basically own nothing I could sell, no credit to try to borrow it, and like I said...there just isn't time to save up a tiny bit at a time. But once I'm free and clear of this whole thing? A world of possibilities opens up....and I can't wait