Before I start I just want to say, we cannot afford a lawyer at this time. We just got out of court and are now $7000 in debt.
We settled on the court date with a shared custody agreement, meaning both incomes determine child support. My husband's 2013 income was larger than normal (approx. $70,000) due to him working massive amounts of overtime to pay off lawyer debt (apparently this is going to be a trend) so that's why it may seem strange that we cannot afford this.
During settlement the Mother put together a story about how she had lost her other jobs and just had one left, so would make only $20,000 in 2014 (she had made $28,000 in 2013) and wanted that number to be used for child support. My husband thought this was a very low estimate but it didn't change things very much so he agreed.
Almost immediately after court we find out that the Mother has received a full time job paying $40,000-60,000 a year (somewhere in there, it's in the medical field). She may have known this at court but it makes no difference so we aren't worried about that.
What we are worried about is that she refuses to give us her new income. The court order states she has 30 days from a change in income to report it. My husband waited about 3 weeks and then gave her a very polite reminder. She says it doesn't count because it is a contracted job with only 1 year guaranteed and that "he is trying to steal money from their son", and is generally very aggressive about this.
What do we do?! Is this a contempt of court issue? Are we going to have to go back to court? Can we request her income information from her employeer with the court order?
This is so frustrating. Trying to find out how to deal with this without a lawyer if possible. If we need to get a lawyer we won't be able to afford one for the next 4-6 months while we pay all this debt off (depending on how much overtime my husband can get, it has died off). Will the court order back-pay if this happens? The difference is of course quite large.
Please help!
We settled on the court date with a shared custody agreement, meaning both incomes determine child support. My husband's 2013 income was larger than normal (approx. $70,000) due to him working massive amounts of overtime to pay off lawyer debt (apparently this is going to be a trend) so that's why it may seem strange that we cannot afford this.
During settlement the Mother put together a story about how she had lost her other jobs and just had one left, so would make only $20,000 in 2014 (she had made $28,000 in 2013) and wanted that number to be used for child support. My husband thought this was a very low estimate but it didn't change things very much so he agreed.
Almost immediately after court we find out that the Mother has received a full time job paying $40,000-60,000 a year (somewhere in there, it's in the medical field). She may have known this at court but it makes no difference so we aren't worried about that.
What we are worried about is that she refuses to give us her new income. The court order states she has 30 days from a change in income to report it. My husband waited about 3 weeks and then gave her a very polite reminder. She says it doesn't count because it is a contracted job with only 1 year guaranteed and that "he is trying to steal money from their son", and is generally very aggressive about this.
What do we do?! Is this a contempt of court issue? Are we going to have to go back to court? Can we request her income information from her employeer with the court order?
This is so frustrating. Trying to find out how to deal with this without a lawyer if possible. If we need to get a lawyer we won't be able to afford one for the next 4-6 months while we pay all this debt off (depending on how much overtime my husband can get, it has died off). Will the court order back-pay if this happens? The difference is of course quite large.
Please help!
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