Calculating CS when discrepancy in how much parent earns ?

[Aghast]

From the case law, this is the most sexist aspect of family law. Men get income imputed on a routine basis, and almost no excuse is tolerated for working something other than a full time job. Women on the other hand are allowed to work less than 40 hours a week, work less than 50 weeks a year, reduce their workload for many trivial reasons.

I agree, from experience. Ex laid off 6 years ago but just can't seem to get a job. "Keep trying ma'am, in the meantime you're ex husband will pay your mortgage"

[Janus]

With regards to :
So I was thinking about this . Our separation agreement says that we are supposed to re-calculate the child support every year based on salary . We are supposed to do this ourselves . There is no court order , just our lawyer prepared agreement .

In essence, are we not " changing child support " every year ?

You are changing it on consent every year. If she agrees that her income is $5000 more than her line 150, then there are no issues. I should have said that you don't get to unilaterally change CS. If you want to change CS, and you guys can't agree on the proper amount, then you go to court. If you decide to just start paying less, she will file your agreement with FRO and then the party will really begin.

It just doesn't seem right because I know if I started to take a bunch of days off unpaid and thus earn less money than I did last year , there would be an issue for sure .

From the case law, this is the most sexist aspect of family law. Men get income imputed on a routine basis, and almost no excuse is tolerated for working something other than a full time job. Women on the other hand are allowed to work less than 40 hours a week, work less than 50 weeks a year, reduce their workload for many trivial reasons.

Female and have a new kid? Feel free to not work for a year or more to watch your child.

Male and have a new kid? Your fault, you knew you had to pay CS.

Female and feeling depressed about the end of your marriage? Take a year or so to start working.

Male and feeling depressed about the end of your marriage? Man up and work, that's what men do.


(Totally off topic, but second most sexist aspect of family law is costs awards. I'm amazed how many times women lose cases but "were honestly fighting for what they thought was best for their kids" and then don't have to pay anything. The other "screw men" aspect of costs awards is that women with full custody generally are shielded from paying costs unless their conduct is especially egregious.)

Back to Sam Sung: You are right, if your income went down, the courts would impute it back in a second. Unfortunately, I would not expect the same consideration from the courts for your ex's reduced income.

[rockscan]

I can’t say I agree or disagree. My partner lost his job and was paid out a lot of severance, vacation and sick time. His income that year was higher than he’s ever made and then almost a quarter of that for two years after. His ex is arguing he was underemployed even though his employment was like that throughout their marriage.

Im not saying her taking time off is right but there may be another reason for it. Plus her line 150 is what you are supposed to be using not her t4 or paystub.

If that doesn’t help, remember this is technically for the kids. You may not agree to her getting the money but as far as the court is concerned, its for the kids.

[Sam Sung]

Thank you for the reply Rockscan .

We are not under FRO . We do not have a court order .

We have a lawyer prepared SA that says " every year calculate what you each made and pay the offset child support accordingly for the following year ".

Starting in year 1 Father made X and Mother made Y .

X and Y need to be inputted each year in June .

I have an issue with the value of Y.

I think the value of Y should be about $5500 higher.
I base this on her last paystub of the year ( that she provided to me voluntarily through a financial statement ).

Her last paystub shows a Year to Date total that is $5500 higher than the T4 slip that she provided to me . My last paystub and my T4 match exactly .

I understand that I will just have to pay the CS based on the T4 supplied to me and then try to ask a judge to impute the higher amount at a later date and try to recoup some of the money but I fear that the recouping will never actually happen .

If I decided to work a 4 day week instead of a 5 day week and the end result was that I made less money and thus now paid less child support , the courts would surely nail me to the wall but if the CS recipient were to do this , it is perfectly fine . There is no child care involved here as the kids are both teenagers and I easily have them more than 50 % of the time . I would gladly have them 100 % of the time with no child support coming to me .
Sorry to vent , just frustrated.

[rockscan]

If you’re with FRO you don’t get to just change cs. If you are changing outside the guidelines you don’t get to just change.

[Sam Sung]

With regards to :

If you think that you have the "right" to just change CS, you will find that the courts and FRO take a dim view of such self-help.

So I was thinking about this . Our separation agreement says that we are supposed to re-calculate the child support every year based on salary . We are supposed to do this ourselves . There is no court order , just our lawyer prepared agreement .

In essence, are we not " changing child support " every year ?

It just doesn't seem right because I know if I started to take a bunch of days off unpaid and thus earn less money than I did last year , there would be an issue for sure .

Am I missing something ?

[whyme?]

As I mentioned in another poster's query that was similar, my ex took lots of unpaid time off and like HammerDad notes, it will cost more to get it than to ignore it. If your case ever actually gets to court then I wouldn't hesitate to document the situation and make the judge aware.

[Sam Sung]

The difference ends up being about $ 1000 a year.

However we are still in a 2 year long battle over eligible dependent credits which have cost me another 14000 in lost tax refunds . Add to that other instances of unreasonable decisions on her part that make the " hill to die on " higher and higher .

I know this is not the section of the forum to vent on but this is getting very tiresome .

Thank you for the responses . Good or bad I appreciate the input.

[HammerDad]

and you can go to court to get income imputed to her if/when she says no.

IMO, it isn't really an imputed income. It is their actual income. C/S is supposed to be based off of your income as it is now. I know many base it off of the prior years income, but that isn't technically correct. Easier in some instances? Yup, but not technically correct.


I would say that the amount should be included in the ex's income because they should expect to earn it this year. Does the $5k make much of a difference in the c/s adjustment? It likely amount to about $500 a year in c/s difference, so about ~$40 a month, and that is before the split for your 50/50 situation, so it would be less overall.


I would take the position that it should be included, but wouldn't make it a hill to die on as it is a) 1 year and b) likely cost you more in lawyer fees than you would save in c/s. But I would remember this instance going forward should you ever need to take a similar position in the future.

[Janus]

Dear ex,


I noticed that you took voluntary unpaid leave which reduced your salary last year from $47,000 to $42,000. As you well know, we both have an obligation to maximize our income for our children. I think it would be fair if we agreed to base child support calculations on a salary of $47,000. If you disagree, then please let me know as soon as possible so that we can schedule a court date at a mutually agreeable time to resolve the issue"


No, you cannot unilaterally make changes, but you can ask if she is willing to make them on consent, and you can go to court to get income imputed to her if/when she says no.


If you think that you have the "right" to just change CS, you will find that the courts and FRO take a dim view of such self-help.

[Sam Sung]

I have a situation where every year we are to exchange income tax info and re-calculate how much child support is to be paid .We have joint 50/50 custody and care of the 2 children with a 1 week on 1 week off arrangement .

My ex's last pay stub of the year shows that she took alot of voluntary unpaid leave from her job ( about $5000 worth ) .
Her employers include that amount in her Year to Date totals . Her T 4 slip does not .

Am I within my rights to base the child support using the unpaid leave total as well as the earned total . The difference is about $ 100 per month and for a single father this does make a huge difference .

Any opinion is greatly appreciated .