Sorry for the length. Trying to be detailed to avoid confusion. Questions in bold at bottom.
Background:
Previous court order in effect. I have full custody. Other party pays support based on $50k income. Last two years, payor has made $60k and, $70k, respectively. Refused to give NOA's, even though this is stated in a clause in original court order.
I brought a motion to change without consent for the table amount of support reflecting payor's increased income. He did not file a response, but did attend the first court date/conference call. Judge gave him an extension to file (an extra month) and set a case conference in 5 months.
The support payor got a legal aid lawyer (not sure how re: his income). Again, they missed the extention date to serve/file a response. I received some of his documents 2 weeks after. His response is claiming undue hardship because he has other (younger) children to pay support for ( doesn't even pay table amount for those kids; bullied his ex into accepting substantially less than the table amount). Also most "facts" laid out in his response are inaccurate - claiming to pay larger amount of child support than he actually does, saying he doesn't have arrears when he does, etc.
His lawyer is requesting my consent to a late filing of their response. Do I have to consent?
The payor and lawyer are also requesting my financial/tax information to compare standards of living. Since I am only seeking guideline amount of support, I was not required to file a financial statement with the court. I still have not received a financial statement from him, which is required to be served to me and filed with his response.
His lawyer is shady and both of them leave multiple voicemails on my phone every day. I feel like they are trying to bully me into doing what they want because they realize they have no case, or at least a real long shot.
Questions
1.) Do I have to consent to a late filing for their paperwork? I dont want to be difficult or delay the case any longer, but I also dont understand why the judge would set deadlines if they dont seem to matter. This isnt the first time we have been to court for this. Every time he delays/drags out the process by not handing things in on time to try to avoid paying more. Last time court took almost a year to change the documents because he got multiple extentions to file.
He ends up hurting himself by doing this because he ends up with thousands in retroactive arrears.
2.) Do I have to provide my income information to the other party? It wasn't required in my motion and he hasn't even provided his financial statement (only an NOA - finally- with the draft response). Are they just simply asking for my cooperation with their requests? If it was really necessary wouldn't the court/judge ask for these documents from me?
3.) Should I get a lawyer? I have been representing myself, because, with an income of $45k, I make too much money to qualify for legal aid, but not enough to have disposable income for a lawyer. I feel like I had a straight-forward, fair case. But now it's getting complicated because they aren't following the normal flow of the process.
The whole fact that we have to waste a judge's time for this in the first place seems ridiculous to me. The payor is court-ordered to provide an NOA yearly but refused to avoid a change. He breached that order causing us to have to go to court to get a judge to MAKE him provide it. Seems silly for me to spend money I dont have to get a lawyer for something that really shouldn't have to come in front of a judge in the first place.
*** Note: I didnt seek additional support for the $60k year. And I pay all section 7 expenses out of pocket and have given up asking for any help with these. There are many other facts that support my belief that the judge will not let him off with paying less than the table amount, which I can outline if it even matters.
Thanks in advance.
Background:
Previous court order in effect. I have full custody. Other party pays support based on $50k income. Last two years, payor has made $60k and, $70k, respectively. Refused to give NOA's, even though this is stated in a clause in original court order.
I brought a motion to change without consent for the table amount of support reflecting payor's increased income. He did not file a response, but did attend the first court date/conference call. Judge gave him an extension to file (an extra month) and set a case conference in 5 months.
The support payor got a legal aid lawyer (not sure how re: his income). Again, they missed the extention date to serve/file a response. I received some of his documents 2 weeks after. His response is claiming undue hardship because he has other (younger) children to pay support for ( doesn't even pay table amount for those kids; bullied his ex into accepting substantially less than the table amount). Also most "facts" laid out in his response are inaccurate - claiming to pay larger amount of child support than he actually does, saying he doesn't have arrears when he does, etc.
His lawyer is requesting my consent to a late filing of their response. Do I have to consent?
The payor and lawyer are also requesting my financial/tax information to compare standards of living. Since I am only seeking guideline amount of support, I was not required to file a financial statement with the court. I still have not received a financial statement from him, which is required to be served to me and filed with his response.
His lawyer is shady and both of them leave multiple voicemails on my phone every day. I feel like they are trying to bully me into doing what they want because they realize they have no case, or at least a real long shot.
Questions
1.) Do I have to consent to a late filing for their paperwork? I dont want to be difficult or delay the case any longer, but I also dont understand why the judge would set deadlines if they dont seem to matter. This isnt the first time we have been to court for this. Every time he delays/drags out the process by not handing things in on time to try to avoid paying more. Last time court took almost a year to change the documents because he got multiple extentions to file.
He ends up hurting himself by doing this because he ends up with thousands in retroactive arrears.
2.) Do I have to provide my income information to the other party? It wasn't required in my motion and he hasn't even provided his financial statement (only an NOA - finally- with the draft response). Are they just simply asking for my cooperation with their requests? If it was really necessary wouldn't the court/judge ask for these documents from me?
3.) Should I get a lawyer? I have been representing myself, because, with an income of $45k, I make too much money to qualify for legal aid, but not enough to have disposable income for a lawyer. I feel like I had a straight-forward, fair case. But now it's getting complicated because they aren't following the normal flow of the process.
The whole fact that we have to waste a judge's time for this in the first place seems ridiculous to me. The payor is court-ordered to provide an NOA yearly but refused to avoid a change. He breached that order causing us to have to go to court to get a judge to MAKE him provide it. Seems silly for me to spend money I dont have to get a lawyer for something that really shouldn't have to come in front of a judge in the first place.
*** Note: I didnt seek additional support for the $60k year. And I pay all section 7 expenses out of pocket and have given up asking for any help with these. There are many other facts that support my belief that the judge will not let him off with paying less than the table amount, which I can outline if it even matters.
Thanks in advance.
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