Support modification

[usound76]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? KY

Yesterday, I received notice that my ex is taking me back to court to have his child support obligation re-evaluated. He and his wife have an infant with another one on the way. I know the support I receive for our daughter will most likely go down because of the other children, but I have a couple questions about the hearing.

First off:
At the end of last year, my employer gave all the employees the option of cutting to 32 hours a week, or an 18% pay cut due to budget cuts. I "chose" to cut to 32 hours per week since it was about even money and it gave me a day off to handle my daughter's affairs (dr. appts, therapies, etc.). A friend of mine told me that they will still use my 40 hour a week income for the CS calculations since I "chose" to reduce my hours. Is this correct?

Secondly:
Since he remarried, my ex has not followed the visitation schedule outlined in the divorce papers. In the papers, he gets about 125 hours of visitation per month, but only exercises about 6 or 7 hours a month. Can I bring this up at the hearing, or is it irrelevant? Can that make a difference? Also, he always brags that he makes almost double what he did when we were married. I don't know if that's true, but should that even things out in the long run?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Silverplum]

I am not a lawyer and I don't know anything about your state. However, as a point of reference, I can tell you that in DE you are expected to work 40 hours per week and you would be attributed income based on 40 hours especially because you voluntarily accepted 32 hours. Heck, if you are an hourly worker who misses pay because you are sick or have to appear in Family Court, your CS will still be based on a 40 hour income.

sigh...

Here on FA, we do not mix state laws. If your experience is in DE, and the poster is in KY, your personal info is not useful to the poster.

Please keep that in mind when advising.

In DE, custody/visitation has nothing to do with CS and, based on Judge Judy, it is that way everywhere.

sigh...

You are right, in that custody and CS are separate. One cannot withhold one for the other.

You are incorrect in that CS is, in many states, calculated in part by how much time each parent spends with the child/ren.

Please READ before posting.

Thanks.

 

[TheGeekess]

I am not a lawyer and I don't know anything about your state.

And that's where you should have stopped.

 

[Silverplum]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? KY

Yesterday, I received notice that my ex is taking me back to court to have his child support obligation re-evaluated. He and his wife have an infant with another one on the way. I know the support I receive for our daughter will most likely go down because of the other children, but I have a couple questions about the hearing.

First off:
At the end of last year, my employer gave all the employees the option of cutting to 32 hours a week, or an 18% pay cut due to budget cuts. I "chose" to cut to 32 hours per week since it was about even money and it gave me a day off to handle my daughter's affairs (dr. appts, therapies, etc.). A friend of mine told me that they will still use my 40 hour a week income for the CS calculations since I "chose" to reduce my hours. Is this correct?

Yes. You can definitely be imputed a fulltime income for CS purposes.

Secondly:
Since he remarried, my ex has not followed the visitation schedule outlined in the divorce papers. In the papers, he gets about 125 hours of visitation per month, but only exercises about 6 or 7 hours a month. Can I bring this up at the hearing, or is it irrelevant? Can that make a difference? Also, he always brags that he makes almost double what he did when we were married. I don't know if that's true, but should that even things out in the long run?

Thanks in advance.

I didn't see anything in the KY guidelines that indicates CS is calculated according to time spent with child/ren.

Here are the KY CS guidelines:
http://www.lrc.ky.gov/krs/403-00/212.pdf

 

[milspecgirl]

ky does not allow for subsequent children in child support calculations- only prior children. His choosing to have more kids should not affect your children's child support. Neither will the fact that he does not spend as much time with them.
Google KY child support calculators and run the numbers.

 

[usound76]

Thank you Silverplum. I read the link. The last line of KRS403.212(2)(d) reads:

"A court may find a parent to be voluntarily
unemployed or underemployed without finding that the parent intended to avoid or reduce the child support obligation."

Could this be used to agrue my case since the reduction in income was my employer's decision and not mine? I guess I would have been better off taking the 18% wage reduction. At the time, I wasn't thinking about child support. I didn't think 32 hours as being underemployed since my company still considers me full-time. Oh well, guess you live and learn.

Does the KRS link also mean that his bonus checks are calculated into the CS equation as well? When CS was first established, 4 years ago, he never brought a single pay stub into court, the judge set the amount based on his "stated imcome". He just told the judge what he brought home, and she entered that number into the worksheet.

I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens. I'm just trying to get an idea of what will happen.

 

[Silverplum]

I did READ. I was talking about DE which I know all of you think is irrelevant but for someone brand new to this sport I thought it might be worthwhile. If it isn't I apologize to OP. In DE you need 109 overnights per year to affect CS.

Delaware IS irrelevant to this thread. So are Colorado, Alaska, New Jersey, and every other state except the poster's state.

THIS thread is about KENTUCKY.

 

[Proserpina]

I did READ. I was talking about DE which I know all of you think is irrelevant but for someone brand new to this sport I thought it might be worthwhile. If it isn't I apologize to OP. In DE you need 109 overnights per year to affect CS.

Many lawyers here often give answers which are not state specific but provide general guidance. The purpose of this forum is for users to share their experiences so that is what I was trying to do. Sigh.

Actually, the opposite is true.

Most senior members base their responses specifically according to the laws in the OP's state.

Heck, that's why the question is there to begin with.

 

[Antigone*]

I did READ. I was talking about DE which I know all of you think is irrelevant but for someone brand new to this sport I thought it might be worthwhile. If it isn't I apologize to OP. In DE you need 109 overnights per year to affect CS.

Many lawyers here often give answers which are not state specific but provide general guidance. The purpose of this forum is for users to share their experiences so that is what I was trying to do. Sigh.

Please stop hijacking this OPs thread, you are not helping.

 

[not2cleverRed]

I did READ. I was talking about DE which I know all of you think is irrelevant but for someone brand new to this sport I thought it might be worthwhile.

Have you heard of lurking? It's worthwhile.

Helps you learn a lot about what is general law versus state specific.

OP, the visitation issue... is a nonissue.
Your ex's choice to have more children... is his choice. While he might argue financial hardship, it was his choice not to *snip* *snip*. So it does not qualify as a change of circumstance for child support purposes.
However, if there has been a substantial increase in his income since child support was initially set, it could actually go up. But don't get optimistic on that count yet, since some people go to great lengths to hide their income.

 

[TinkerBelleLuvr]

I'm going to argue a different point here. The OP was offered two choices:

1. take an 18% cut in pay

OR

2. work four days which is tantamount to a 20% cut in pay.

Do you have this in writing. If you figure out the cost of daycare, option two was much more cost effective.

Do you have the offers in WRITING? If not, can you get it. The OP, at most should be imputed the 18% cut in pay rate if they are going to argue a 40 hour work week.

 

[usound76]

TinkerBelleLuvr:

Yes, I kept the original e-mails sent out by my manager and HR. The official HR e-mail is dated November 1, 2010 and outlines the 2 choices. We were given until November 30th to respond or the pay cut option would be chosen for us. I responded by e-mail as well and I kept that one also. Would
e-mails be sufficient for the judge. I planned to print them out for the court hearing.

Also, I did crunch the numbers before I decided and the four day week was more cost effective since I had one less day of child care to pay.

 

[LdiJ]

TinkerBelleLuvr:

Yes, I kept the original e-mails sent out by my manager and HR. The official HR e-mail is dated November 1, 2010 and outlines the 2 choices. We were given until November 30th to respond or the pay cut option would be chosen for us. I responded by e-mail as well and I kept that one also. Would
e-mails be sufficient for the judge. I planned to print them out for the court hearing.

Also, I did crunch the numbers before I decided and the four day week was more cost effective since I had one less day of child care to pay.

Print out the emails with the full headers. That will help to establish their credibility.

I agree with Tinker that your reduction in pay was not voluntary and you should argue it as such.

 

[CJane]

Print out the emails with the full headers. That will help to establish their credibility.

I agree with Tinker that your reduction in pay was not voluntary and you should argue it as such.

You should also, when running the numbers, consider that another 8 hours of pay per week likely wouldn't have THAT much effect on the final child support amount anyway.

 

[usound76]

Can he do this?

OK, I just got back from court. The presiding judge is new to the bench (the previous one recently died) and has only been there about a month.

That said, he didn't even allow me to present my e-mails from my employer. He asked for pay stubs and 2 years of tax returns, which we both presented to him. He asked me how many people were living in my household and I responded three. He asked who the third person was and I told him that my boyfriend had just moved in about two weeks ago. (We've been together for 3 years and he just sold his condo) The judge input the numbers into the CS worksheet and came out with an amount that was almost double what the current CS was. He then ordered the CS amount to he just over HALF of what my ex is currnetly paying.

When I asked the judge about it, he proceeded to tell me that my "boyfriend" could pay some of the bills for me. He used those little quote marks in the air when he said this. He never asked what my boyfriend makes or anything. I asked if my ex's wife's income would also be considered, and I was told that her income was irrelevant. She's a stay-at-home mom, but he wouldn't know that and it wasn't brought up in court. I thought that only the parent's income was taken into consideration for CS, not spouses or others living in the household. When I asked the judge about this as well, he told me "it's based on whatever I want to base it on, young lady".

The judge then told me that he didn't condone domestic partnerships, and that he believes they are a sin against God, the state, and his court. He informed me that I was to appear back in court 30 days from today with proof that I had "rectified my situation". When I asked him what that meant, he told me I was to produce a valid KY Marriage Certificate, or my boyfriend had to move out, or he would suspend CS until he was satisified.

Sorry this is so long, but I'm really upset. Can he take my boyfriends income into consideration for CS? Can he really force me to get married or have him move out???