Report: Former NFL Player In Child Support Case Owes $320,000

A recent report showed that a former NFL player owes his ex-wife more than $320,000 from their child support case. According to documents from the Texas Attorney General’s Office, former Texas Tech and Kansas City Chiefs player Thomas Howard owes his ex-wife Percilla nearly 30 years worth of back child support payments for the couple’s two sons. The documents showed that the payments due in the child support case totaled $322,186, including interest and penalties.

Details of the Child Support Case

Thomas Howard, Sr., met his wife when both were students at Texas Tech in the mid-1970s. During his collegiate career, his wife gave birth to the couple’s first child, Andre. Mr. Howard played as a linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs and St. Louis Cardinals from 1977 to 1985. The couple had a second son, Thomas, Jr., in 1983. They divorced in 1987, shortly after Mr. Howard retired from the NFL. The child support case alleges that Mr. Howard paid little to no child support after the couple’s divorce.

Mother Takes Child Support Case To AG’s Office

When she failed to receive consistent payments after her divorce, Mrs. Howard brought her child support case to the attention of the state’s Attorney General’s office. The state attorney took the case to court in 2007, when they learned that Mr. Howard owed more than $257,000 in back payments. A judge in the couple’s hometown of Lubbock ruled that the previous agreement, which required Mr. Howard to pay $150 per month, was insufficient. The judge in the child support case ruled that the payments should be increased to $370 per month. The ruling also stated that the payments should be made directly from Mr. Howard’s employer to his ex-wife.

“Nothing Happened” In Child Support Case

In the years since the judge’s ruling on her child support case, Mrs. Howard had received over $56,000 in payments. However, that amount still came up well short of the amount owed. Last December, the Attorney General’s office reviewed her child support case and calculated the back payments at over $320,000. Mrs. Howard told reporters that, despite the payments she had received over the years, it felt like “nothing had happened” to remedy the situation.

Child Support Case Still Carries Obligations

Despite the fact that her sons have since grown up, and the fact that she lost her younger son to a car accident in 2009, Mrs. Howard still maintains her stance in her child support case. A Senior Regional Attorney with the Attorney General’s office told a Lubbock-area reporter that the law regarding such child support cases has changed, but that the changes do not release Mr. Howard from his obligations. Any changes to the child support arrangements would require an additional court order and a new agreement between the two parties.

Source: KLBK-TV

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To find out how we can answer your questions about your child support case, contact one of our attorneys today. Our intake team will take down the details of your divorce and quickly connect you to an attorney who understands child custody case law and how it affects your child support case. You can also fill out the “Confidential Evaluation” form at the top of this page.

NOTE: This post is a news story and does not imply an endorsement of Arguello Law Firm by any concerned parties mentioned herein.