A father out of Detroit has been paying child support for his son who died 25 years ago. Lional Campbell’s continues with monthly installments for his son, Michael, and is fighting to be absolved of the duty.
Campbell moved from the Midwest of Kentucky. In 2011, he became confused as to why he’s still paying child support since his 3-year-old son, Michael, passed away from acute meningitis, back in 1988. “It took a lot out of me,” Campbell said of the battle which has become harder given the distance between where he now lives, and proceedings filed in the Wayne County Friend of the Court.
A spokesperson for the court claims to have never been informed that the child was dead. The court also blamed not having enough staff members as the reason for the blunder.
For several years, Campbell assumed that he was shelling out back pay for his older child, born seven years before Michael. Being that the son is now 34, Campbell requested an audit only to be told that he still owed less than $20,000. He drove up to a Detroit court to figure out why the payments hadn’t ended, and was told that they were told for the deceased child. He produced paperwork proving the boy had died. “The lady said ‘how you owe on a child been dead 23 years?’ I said I don’t know and she said we’ll do another audit.”
The court claims that despite the mistake, Campbell still owes $6,460.08, which he denies. He will order another look into the amount before the government takes his return and puts it towards the balance.
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Photo: 7 Action News
