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The estate of a woman who died six years ago is suing St. Joseph County for more than $7,000 to help cover child support she never paid.
In a complaint filed Tuesday, Patrick T. McFadden, the estate’s attorney, cited county records stating that the late Nancy Ellen White (formerly Mercado) never paid child support up until her 2020 death, which came 20 years after a court ordered her to pay $49 per week.
White and her former husband, Francisco Mercado, divorced in 1990.
Her children Juan and Christina Mercado were 13 and 14 years-old at the time of the child support order. They are now 40 and 39 years old. By the time they reached adulthood, White owed around $12,000 in child support, according to the complaint.
In Aug. 2023, the county sold White’s South Bend home to pay off her tax debts. White’s debts were paid and the county had $7,062 surplus from the sale.
That amount is believed to be in the possession of county officials, and the estate claims it is owed to White’s children, the complaint states. McFadden cites Indiana Code 31-16-16-2, which states that delinquent child support “is deemed a judgment against the obligor for the delinquent amount.”
The estate asks that the court award the surplus funds to the estate and that St. Joseph County and the relevant entities pay for costs and other “fit and proper relief.”
The case is Estate of Nancy Ellen White v. St. Joseph County of Indiana, Treasurer of St. Joseph County Indiana, Auditor of St. Joseph County et al
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