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Child Support Adjustments

  • Thread starter Thread starter JRAY22
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JRAY22

Guest
What is the name of your state? Georgia

At the time of our divorce, my ex did not have a job and I agreed to 20% for child support with no alimoney. I also pay for medical and dental coverage for our baby, and half of all uncovered expenses. Now she just got a job. It has only been 4 months since our divorce, but can I take her back to court to try and get my support payments reduced since she now has a job??

thanks
 


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pthalo

Guest
If there has been a notable change in circumstances then yes you can petition for a modification of support.. This really only makes a difference if your state uses CP and NCP incomes in the calculation.. If its a percentage of income model then it won't do you any good. Look into GA method of calculation and then go from there....
 

Whyte Noise

Senior Member
Georgia only looks at the NCP's income when calculating child support. The CP's income isn't considered. If you are the NCP JRAY it wouldn't matter if she made $100,000 a year. They only look at YOUR income. The only way you can get a modification is if YOUR income goes up or down, not hers. I was divorced in Georgia, and am an NCP that pays CS. My ex makes $50,000 a year almost, I make around $10,000. His income didn't matter. I pay 29% of my gross income for CS. So, her having a job now wouldn't make one bit of difference, and wouldn't change your amount of support at all..... Sorry.....
 
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pthalo

Guest
cjmom good site but this one gives a little more background than just a calculator that way you can see the reasons behind the madness...

http://www.divorcelawinfo.com/states.htm

MissouriGal, how many children do you have.. 29% is the bottom of the 4 child scale and the middle of the 3 child scale... Are you getting ripped off or are there extenuating circumstances....
 

Whyte Noise

Senior Member
I have 3 children. The guidelines call for between 25% and 32% of gross income for 3 children. They put me at 29%. Nope, no extenuating circumstances at all. Ex and I agreed to everything, except support. He didn't want support, didn't need it. I was just going to pay half of the insurance premiums for the year, and if they needed, or wanted something extra, I would get it for them. (Like the season passes for Wild Adventures that I got for all three of them.) His attorney took it in front of the judge, and the judge said that he wouldn't sign it unless there was an order of support in the aggrement. Had to redo the thing, and the court put me at 29%.
 
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pthalo

Guest
just curious....

have you spoken with a lawyer about modifying the order and removing the support obligation... can you have it heard by another judge or appeal the decision.. If dad agrees then it might be a little easier to do..

The only reason I asked about the 29% is that I looked at Georgia the other day and that sounded pretty high...
 

Whyte Noise

Senior Member
It was just done in April, and I haven't had any circumstances change, so I wouldn't be in line for a modification. There is only one judge in that county that does divorce cases. (Small county) So, getting it in front of another judge isn't an option either. His attorney took the agreement in front of the judge, and he flat out asked her where an order for support was. She told him that the father wasn't asking for support, because he knows he makes a lot more than I do, and that my health doesn't let me have much of an option as far as working goes. All he wanted was for me to pay half of the insurance premiums for my children, and he'd pay the other half. I offered, myself, to buy any extras for them, so his attorney put that in there too. The judge said he didn't care, that under the guidelines I had to pay support. Me, being naive at the time about the Georgia guidelines and statutes, had to agree in order for the judge to sign the divorce decree. I didn't know that there didn't HAVE to be an order of support if both parties agreed to that, or I wouldn't have signed, and spoke with his attorney about it. (Truth be known, I think his attorney worked for both of us. LoL I'd call and discuss what I wanted put in the papers, and she'd call the ex, and then she'd put it right in). But, legally, 29% is the middle ground for 3 children, so thats what she put.
 
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PoohBear8

Guest
I'm not sure if you are aware that there is litigation going on that declares Georgia's child support guidelines unconstitutional since they only use the ncp's income. I did a search and found a civil action, which you can read at:
http://ancpr.org/in_the_superior_courtof_atkinson.htm
Whether it has been signed by the judge, I am not sure. But from my understanding, there are many people filing these types of actions to get the laws changed. Check into this. If the guidelines change, you certainly (I would think) be entitled to a reduction.
Good Luck!
 
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pthalo

Guest
Georgia is not the only state with a percentage of income model for CS so unless all the states are involved then it probably will fizzle... I know that Illinois has a POI model...
 
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PoohBear8

Guest
If you go to the link I listed above, it shows that other states are involved also. Going by just the ncp income is just plain unfair.:rolleyes:
 

Whyte Noise

Senior Member
bambi... if that was for me, I DO pay support, every month, by the 5th of the month, as per the court order. Even for the months of June, July, and August when the kids are in my physical custody. Even though the judge basically lied when he said I HAD to pay, I went by what he said, and agreed to the amount in order to get the divorce done with. Now that it's signed, I have to pay. And pay, I do.

PoohBear... Yup, Judge Perkins ruled in favor of the NCP in that one. That was on the 1st of March. On March 29th, the state appealed. So right now, it's in limbo so to speak, and judges still issue support orders based on those guidelines. If you'd like, you can look here http://www.gachildsupport.org/ People from Georgia that post on this board might find it helpful in keeping track of whats going on with the ruling. I'd hope that if the legislature passes any reforms, that those of us who were ordered to pay under these current guidelines would be able to go and have modifications done based on the new guidelines. Now, before anyone thinks I'm saying that I don't want to pay CS, I didn't say that. I just think that the guidelines should be fair, and consider both incomes into the equation. I make $10,000 a year. I pay $2900 of that to CS. My ex makes about $50,000 a year, plus gets $2900 more from me, tax free. So, his income is really $52,900. Mine is really $7,100. After my taxes, (and BTW, Georgia CS is on gross income. So they take that 29% of my gross, and I still pay TAXES on that same gross amount) which would be about $2,000 a year (State, Federal, FICA, and Medicare) that leaves me with a grand total income for the year of about $5,100. Ex's income... $52,900 My income after taxes and CS.... $5,100. Even after my ex's taxes, he'd have around $40,000 worth of net income. And he gets all the tax breaks too. NCP's get none. I live on $5000 a year, he lives on $40,000. No, I dont think the guidelines are fair. But yes, I still pay my CS. And until there is a change, I'll continue to do so.
 
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PoohBear8

Guest
Even though I do not live in the state of Georgia, I hope and pray that Judge Perkins ruling is upheld and the appeal denied.
 

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