Financial Statement Breakdown?

[firhill]

A judge orders full financial statements from both parties, with questioning permitted.
In disclosure, Respondent states she doesn't work, that she lives off her live-in boyfriends income while racking up $20k in credit card bills.

Can I ask to see a breakdown of such, as in what, when and by whom, the purchases were made, or do I just take their word that it's true?
If all I can view is the credit card statements, and suspect the majority of the debt was incurred after being ordered to submit a financial statement, is there anything I can do about it?

[blinkandimgone]

It shouldn't matter, any debts incurred post-seperation belong to her, unless they were made on a joint account you didn't close...?

[firhill]

Thanks blink,

No, we never had or shared a CC in our brief time dating.
I was asking because I thought that by indicating how much she was in debt, it was a ploy to have the judge show her some pity.

Just thinking out loud here.....would/could someone use a negative cash flow or a debt owing if calculations needed to be made for s7 expenses down the road?

Or is anything less than zero, just considered zero?

[Rioe]

You are in court only about child access and support, right? Her debts or assets don't matter for child support, only her income. And she can't claim an income of zero. Search imputing an income on the forum for a ton of information on assigning a proper income to her, but in a nutshell, it means her income is considered to be what she could be making, based on her education, and at least full time minimum wage. Then all calculations (offset CS and section 7 proportion) use that number instead of zero.

So, she certainly won't be considered to have a negative income, that's just ridiculous. A judge is going to tell her to shape up, get a job, control her spending and support her child. If anything, racking up reckless debt is going to make her look worse, not pitiful. And it certainly doesn't bode well for her new relationship either!

[firhill]

Thanks Rioe,

Custody, access & support (from the child support tables).
I'll read up on imputing an income, as that will be relevant if she has to find a job and babysitting is required.

Thanks again!!!!

[firhill]

Can someone explain why someone would bring a motion asking for line of credit and credit card statement printouts?

As Rioe stated above..it shouldn't matter so I don't understand why what I owe, and to whom, has any bearing in assessing what my child support payments should be changed to.

I filed a motion asking for the same information but if the Judge asks why I asked for the order, I'd have to be honest and answer it was because the Respondent's lawyer filed first and I figure they must have asked for the order for a reason.

[Teenwolf]

Perhaps she believes that you're under-reporting income? And it's a ploy for her to show that you have more money than you report. It likely won't get her anywhere, but that's the only reason I can think of for her asking for such stuff.

In regard to imputing income, the court will decide what she's capable of making, but they will take a bunch of stuff into consideration, such as:

- her employment history
- her education
- her age and health
- other obligations that may prevent her from working (i.e. pregnant or has a new born child)

[firhill]

Thanks TW.

In the Respondent's Answer she stated she didn't plan on going back to works as it didn't make financial sense as she now has another new baby but she also stated in there that she would be seeking future s7 payments for child care expenses.

I asked that court order the Respondent to disclose the date on which her maternity leave ends so I would know when she is at least capable of working again.