Financial disclosure, fines, imputed income.

[undersc0re]

I have a fmc coming up this week and I would like some input. I have been receiving child support based on an imputed income based on full time min wage back in late 2015, along with that order she was supposed to produce financial info to base child support off of within I think 6 weeks of that order.

Fast forward to this year 2022 couple months ago in June I had another order made by a judge for her to produce that financial info again within 2 weeks, in that order it also stated that I can ask for a fine if that financial info is not produced, the judge stated in the court session in June that we will revisit this issue in your next visit which will be this week and took care of another issue with passports for me at that June visit.

There is a 95% chance ex will not show up to the fmc, I was wondering what the judge will want to know from me? Is she going to ask me what kind of fine I want, or how much child support I think she should pay etc…or do I just ask for a fine and updated child support to reflect the minimum wage these days?

I assume I need really good indisputable proof or actual forms from her for the child support to be based off of or else the judge imputes only min wage.

Is the fine based off of anything set in stone and is it a one time thing or will the fine be in addition to the child support monthly until financial forms are produced to me? The gov agency that takes care of child support here is the family maintenance enforcement program, does this program take care of the fines or can it, and does this program also take those forms and update child support automatically or does the court order then need to be changed saying such and such amount “or based off of most recent produced financial information from person”

I just want to be ready for court and not forget to ask what I can have added to interim court orders.

I am hoping the ex is going to agree to do a final separation agreement later this year and then divorce soon after….if she doesn’t go into ignore mode again. These recent issues with court seem to be lighting a fire under her butt…maybe we can put our separation/divorce to rest soon without lawyers involvement other than to go over final papers to avoid issues in the future between us.

The judges in family court seem pretty personable and don’t mind questions during court so anything I can not have answered here I will try in court.

[undersc0re]

Well, nothing accomplished. Judge does not want to further anything new until he knows ex has received the last order made at the last court appearance, even though she did not show at that one or this one. He would not even impute a newer income.

So he will take care of serving her with very last notice of previous orders and new next court date etc…and take it from there. Service will take place asap so she can try to give me financial info b4 court appearance. Seems like he is giving the ex an extra extra chance…whereas the female judge I am sure would have hammered down!

From showing up at others court issues I can see how things can get delayed for so long lol.

[undersc0re]

I should have asked the judge but does anyone know if I would have emailed my ex that court order with email affidavit filed before hand…showing I sent the ex the order by email…would that have made the judge satisfied with that issue? The main issue the judge had is that he needs to know she saw the last court order.

[rockscan]

I should have asked the judge but does anyone know if I would have emailed my ex that court order with email affidavit filed before hand…showing I sent the ex the order by email…would that have made the judge satisfied with that issue? The main issue the judge had is that he needs to know she saw the last court order.

You would have done an affidavit of service.

More than likely the judge wants to cover their ass to make sure she doesn’t come back saying she wasn’t served. If the judge/court serves her, it can’t be argued it wasn’t done improperly. Not that you did it wrong, this way they are on the hook.

Frustrating for sure but when it’s done you can request back payment.

[terryfyde]

There is a whole process for cases like yours.
Remember objectively speaking you could be lying about service, you could have sent it to the wrong address, they may have moved and said they sent you the change of address but you didn't follow it.


It is a slow road but there is an end. Glad to hear the judge is directing this ship and you are off the hook for figuring it out.

[undersc0re]

So can I request back payment all the way to the original order asking for her financial documents in 2016?

I was not trying too hard back then as missing work for court for my job cost me a lot of money and I was stressed out. The whole court online thing makes it much easier.

[terryfyde]

Maybe.
There is a limit of 3 years but extenuating circumstances can come up.
You may have that if you can show you were pursuing it.

[undersc0re]

Maybe I can just ask to have it start back from beginning of year to make it easier for everyone to agree on things….I guess we will see how it goes, I am sure there will be another hiccup. I can’t see why he didn’t just impute the latest min wage on her, he quickly mentioned she could be plagued by a multitude of things which would make it unfair…I guess if she was a he it would be the same thing….maybe treated a little more aggressively if she was younger and almost surely able to work anywhere.

When I said she won’t show up and never does or change anything is when he said he would make sure it will be done right this time and she will be served and she will comply or else…blah…blah….blah. I guess we will see what happens and if she is a no comply I will offer the judge to just impute latest min wage and I will be happy with that and we won’t waste anymore taxpayers money.

I hope I get the female judge this time, she seems like she has my ex figured out and already knew how she was, must have had notes showing her never showing up for court and not seeing her kids etc…whereas the last judge seemed way too understanding for a simple situation. I guess it has to be done right.

[undersc0re]

Somewhere along the line my recent application which has so far led to fmc’s and one order has changed from me being the applicant to her being the applicant….weird, not sure if there was an assumption made that was wrong, or just a plain mistake somehow, or if it even matters, should I point it out to the judge before ending my session? I have no idea if the judge was successful in serving her or not, I am not sure why the original service was not good enough….maybe because the judge has no idea if she knows what was ordered at the session she was supposed to be at for which she was served for properly in the first place….she never shows up for court and either the judges don’t know this(no notes about it on file) or can not take it into consideration…if I have to keep missing work to try and raise child support at multiple appearances in which she doesn’t show or care…I am taking a loss on income and feel like telling the judge to not bother scheduling another chance for her as I can’t afford it.
Sorry, bit of a rant. Basically just wondering how important the applicant designation is?

[undersc0re]

Judge felt it was important to have the applicant properly stated as me so that was changed, ex was a no show again and did not give financial forms and judge this time awarded me new interim child support order to be based off of imputed min wage full time with amounts also listed. Another hearing will be set for one month from now compelling her to show up and produce financial forms….slowly but surely lol, would a lawyer get this done faster or would it pretty much be the same. Would the lawyer ask for fines or anything? When I asked the judge to at least impute a higher income for now while she plays these games because I am losing out on income while she keeps making money not showing up and not paying proper child support…he asked me if I have any costs associated to this, and I said nothing other than lost wages…made me wonder if he was going to award me costs….anyways once again the judge said he would fine her this time if she is a no show and also ask her to file the financial forms with the court.

At this point do they even care if she has a parenting after separation certificate, or will that be the next excuse to have another delay and court appearance?

[Kkc]

Ask to strike pleadings if this continues

[undersc0re]

How does that help get her to give financial info? Do you mean if she shows up with paperwork and excuses?

[Kkc]

I may not be following totally

My understanding is ex is not providing disclosure making it difficult to truly know what child support should be

The ex has had multiple chances to provide so and has been ordered to

Striking pleadings would basically move this to uncontested trial and determining what imputation will be is done without their involvement

But I may not be 100% be understanding your situation

[undersc0re]

Update in case anyone cared.
So, ex gave the courts just a copy of a t4 from 2019, judge based new child support order off that. Basically imputed an income off of that, she was a no show. I asked to hold off on any further court dates for now and will settle with current amount. It is more than triple what it used to be and I do not want to miss any more work. Judge asked if she is showing up and I said that she has never ever shown up so probably not, he said ok well I have no notes about her never showing up but we will continue then. I would think that would be an important “judge” note to put on the file…but maybe they don’t do that sort of thing. Now on to the next step….separation agreement without her swearing up a storm!