The amount of past due child support owed can be subject to an offset. But an obligor who seeks an offset must specify how much the offset is and prove the offset. Here the obligor neither specified an amount nor offered evidence of what he had paid. Said the court, "Simply put, without an amount to offset, there can be no offset." Moreover, offset is an affirmative defense. Affirmative defenses are waived if not pled. The obligor did not plead an offset, so he waived his right even to claim an offset. In the Interest of A.J.B., No. 07-08-0362-CV (Tex. App. - Amarillo June 2, 2009) (Memorandum Opinion).

Courtesy of Verner & Brumley, P.C. Dallas, Texas

Tags: Pleading, child support , offset