The father argued that Chelsea had not explained why she waited so long to seek a change in payments.
she asked the court to limit her unpaid child-support debt to $500, arguing that her income was too low While in prison. Chelsea and her husband, Alexander Four-Rosenbaum, have a child born in 2019. Their dispute took a serious turn in 2021, when Chelsea and the child’s maternal grandmother took the child from the family home. In 2022, a Family Court ordered Chelsea to pay $408.06 every week towards their child’s expenses. The amount was based on her income in 2020, before she was imprisoned. In 2023, Chelsea returned to court seeking changes to her child-support payments. Under Section 413(1)(g) of the Family Court Act, unpaid child support above $500 cannot build up during periods when a parent’s income is at or below the federal poverty guidelines for a single person.
Chelsea Four-Rosenbaum is serving a seven-year prison sentence after taking her child from the family home and keeping the child’s whereabouts hidden from the father and police for nearly two months, according to the case details available on Justia . The court now must first find out whether her income during imprisonment was low enough for the limit to apply. They kept the child’s whereabouts hidden from Alexander and the police for nearly two months. Chelsea was arrested and charged with second-degree kidnapping and endangering the welfare of a child. Chelsea was later found guilty of both criminal charges following a jury trial. She received a seven-year prison sentence, followed by five years of supervision after her release. She argued that she had little income while in prison and could not afford the amount she had originally been ordered to pay.
On Thursday, a New York appeals court found that the lower court had not properly considered her argument and ordered a fresh hearing.