What can I do? Child Support and Access

[DantebeaR]

19 minutes is nowhere close to justifying no 50/50. Why the child must go to bed so early and wake up so early because of a 19 minute drive doesn't make sense.

19 minute drive but during hours of the school it’s peak rush hour time. Took us almost an hour to get to the school one day.

My ex is also intentionally unemployed however if he gets a job during the hours he needs to pick up or drop off my son there is no support on his side to have someone constantly pick him up.

My ex also has no signing authority for anything relating to my son which means any school documentation and even medical scenarios have to go through me. My ex forfeited all of those rights last year as part of the deal for $1000 off his arrears.

[rockscan]

Ok separate the two things—access and money.

He is using access and money to get his own way but you are letting it cloud your judgement as well.

He chose to give up custody so he can’t simply come back and say “oh hey I changed my mind I want to switch because I have to pay more”. He has to demonstrate a material change in circumstances.

**for dads who want to see their kids more and feel the need to post—leave your personal situation out of this***

You are legally entitled to full disclosure of his income and employment. If he has had full time employment before and is capable of working he is able to do again. Your two arguments are for full disclosure and imputing income. If his lawyer isn’t going to do anything you need to set that out to your ex. Ask him what he is doing to find a job so that you have it in writing.

You also need to look at your income and your expenses. How will you support yourself and your child if a judge rules in his favour and how will you pay for legal expenses. Your ex may not be able to find a job at his previous pay level again or even soon. You will need to adjust your expenses accordingly. Yes it sucks for the kids but this is the way divorce is.

Stop worry about custody and focus on getting full disclosure and imputing an income.

[DantebeaR]

Ok separate the two things—access and money.

He is using access and money to get his own way but you are letting it cloud your judgement as well.

He chose to give up custody so he can’t simply come back and say “oh hey I changed my mind I want to switch because I have to pay more”. He has to demonstrate a material change in circumstances.

**for dads who want to see their kids more and feel the need to post—leave your personal situation out of this***

You are legally entitled to full disclosure of his income and employment. If he has had full time employment before and is capable of working he is able to do again. Your two arguments are for full disclosure and imputing income. If his lawyer isn’t going to do anything you need to set that out to your ex. Ask him what he is doing to find a job so that you have it in writing.

You also need to look at your income and your expenses. How will you support yourself and your child if a judge rules in his favour and how will you pay for legal expenses. Your ex may not be able to find a job at his previous pay level again or even soon. You will need to adjust your expenses accordingly. Yes it sucks for the kids but this is the way divorce is.

Stop worry about custody and focus on getting full disclosure and imputing an income.

Thank you so much,

Okay so few questions if I am going to separate the two.

Imputing Income

1. Do I need to wait until ex files motion to change for child support before I go through the process to impute income and attempt to change CS?

2. Do I start with a Form 20 to request financial information?

3. Then once I receive that, do I submit a Form 15 Motion to Change to a new value? Do I have to complete a Form 13 also? I tried googling the process to impute income for CS purposes and came back empty so I'm sorry if that information is out there.

4. Do I determine what the income should be valued at? Or does the judge determine that?

Access

1. Do I need to wait until ex files motion to change for access before I go through the process to fight against it? Or is there a way to file some sort of documentation to get ahead of his motion?

2. If he does file a motion to change, do I just simply respond with a Form 10A (Reply)?

Is there anything I can do to get ahead of both the support and access battles ie something similar to a Motion to Strike?

Again thank you so much for your assistance.

[StillPaying]

**for dads who want to see their kids more and feel the need to post—leave your personal situation out of this***

Where is this coming from? You seem to be misunderstanding or assuming what's happening with your comments.

OP has custody and her ex is not looking for final decisions, so there's no worries about custody.

Ex's income went down and is trying to change it accordingly. He is not even looking for offset. This should be straight forward, but is not happening, so now they are both looking to change their agreement (he wants more access and she wants more s7).

They are both low income (~ min wage) and ex was in the military but now receives VA benefits and a lump sum. Is this related to disability?

VA benefits would be grossed up and that amount would be imputed as his income. Imputing for unemployment may not be appropriate here without full details.

OP would have to prove ex can and should be working. Ex then has to prove their side and if unsuccessful, the OP would then prove what the amount should be.

[rockscan]

From what you have posted, you have an order/agreement for custody and cs/s7 correct?

Your ex’s lawyer reached out and said he wanted to switch to 50/50? Did he say anything else?

In your agreement from last year there should be a clause that he is obligated to provide you with updated income disclosure annually. Has he done that? If yes then cs and s7 will modify to that amount. Or it will be cs at the new amount and s7 at the agreed upon amount until it changes.

Before filing anything, ask him for updated disclosure if he has not provided it. When he does, advise him of the new amounts and that if he disagrees you will be filing a motion to change to receive the correct amounts.

If he wants to move to 50/50 and you don’t agree you simply say there has been no material change warranting a change in custody. If he thinks there is and wants to file, let him. His lawyer has already said it isn’t a priority and he has no basis for a change.

[rockscan]

What can I do? Child Support and Access

Where is this coming from? You seem to be misunderstanding or assuming what's happening with your comments.

The comment in the asterisks was aimed at those who come in bitching about how moms should give up custody because dad asked for it. Right now he gave up custody and is seeking a change and has not demonstrated a material change. This thread will dissolve into battles over terrible moms who deny custody as others have previously.

OP has custody and her ex is not looking for final decisions, so there's no worries about custody.

He wants to go from her having full custody to 50/50 and has had his lawyer send that demand.

Ex's income went down and is trying to change it accordingly. He is not even looking for offset. This should be straight forward, but is not happening, so now they are both looking to change their agreement (he wants more access and she wants more s7).

He quit his job in the military and has been paying a reduced amount for s7. He now wants to reduce cs and avoid it altogether as he is content to sit on a lower income and avoid cs by having 50/50.

[DantebeaR]

They are both low income (~ min wage) and ex was in the military but now receives VA benefits and a lump sum. Is this related to disability?

VA benefits would be grossed up and that amount would be imputed as his income. Imputing for unemployment may not be appropriate here without full details.

OP would have to prove ex can and should be working. Ex then has to prove their side and if unsuccessful, the OP would then prove what the amount should be.

VA is due to a knee injury, however his release from the Canadian Forces was voluntary due to terms of service coming to an end.

Ex has told me in text messages that he is not going to work for two years because his pension payout and VA payments will cover him for two years. Then he wants to go back to school. He had a job for 1 week as a delivery driver and then quit saying "I quit because I want to spend more time with" his son. Which he never did ask for extra time.

From what you have posted, you have an order/agreement for custody and cs/s7 correct?

Your ex’s lawyer reached out and said he wanted to switch to 50/50? Did he say anything else?

In your agreement from last year there should be a clause that he is obligated to provide you with updated income disclosure annually. Has he done that? If yes then cs and s7 will modify to that amount. Or it will be cs at the new amount and s7 at the agreed upon amount until it changes.

We do have a court order for CS and S7. The lawyer didn't reach out asking for 50/50 access, my ex did. I had to file a motion to have him provide his updated income. I showed the court I had asked 8 separate times and he never provided it and he was 3 months behind. Now that I got it, I have found obscene dependencies that I am looking into. IE he deducted 72.5% of his income as taxes. Gross income was $61,224, but is saying his Net Income was $16,820.

Imputing Income

1. Do I need to wait until ex files motion to change for child support before I go through the process to impute income and attempt to change CS?

2. Do I start with a Form 20 to request financial information?

3. Then once I receive that, do I submit a Form 15 Motion to Change to a new value? Do I have to complete a Form 13 also? I tried googling the process to impute income for CS purposes and came back empty so I'm sorry if that information is out there.

4. Do I determine what the income should be valued at? Or does the judge determine that?

Access

1. Do I need to wait until ex files motion to change for access before I go through the process to fight against it? Or is there a way to file some sort of documentation to get ahead of his motion?

2. If he does file a motion to change, do I just simply respond with a Form 10A (Reply)?

Is there anything I can do to get ahead of both the support and access battles ie something similar to a Motion to Strike?

Could I possibly get an answer for this question?

[StillPaying]

Custody and Access are separate. OP has full custody and that's not going to change. They may end up with 50/50 access, but OP will still have full power regarding custody.

Ex pays arrears, full table support, and a fixed s7 amount, according to their agreement.

Ex is looking to pay appropriate full table support based on his income. This should be a no issue.

Changing s7 or access would need a material change on both parts, but if a move resulted in no longer needing a travel discount on s7, then it may be easier to revisit access and s7.

[rockscan]

Ex is looking to pay appropriate full table support based on his income. This should be a no issue.

It is an issue because he left a high paying job, took a pay out and is now content to live on a reduced income for at least four years while he goes back to school. Ok he hurt his knee but he may also have an ability to find different work. I have yet to see a case (or even anything in this forum) where a paying parent has been able to do this.

I say look into an imputed income depending on his skills and abilities. The case law on imputing income involves Drygala. I can’t remember the other name on the case.

[DantebeaR]

rockscan could I possibly get an answer for this question If you know? Your information has been extremely helpful and I really appreciate your time.

Imputing Income

1. Do I need to wait until ex files motion to change for child support before I go through the process to impute income and attempt to change CS?

2. Do I start with a Form 20 to request financial information?

3. Then once I receive that, do I submit a Form 15 Motion to Change to a new value? Do I have to complete a Form 13 also? I tried googling the process to impute income for CS purposes and came back empty so I'm sorry if that information is out there.

4. Do I determine what the income should be valued at? Or does the judge determine that?

Access

1. Do I need to wait until ex files motion to change for access before I go through the process to fight against it? Or is there a way to file some sort of documentation to get ahead of his motion?

2. If he does file a motion to change, do I just simply respond with a Form 10A (Reply)?

Is there anything I can do to get ahead of both the support and access battles ie something similar to a Motion to Strike?

[rockscan]

If you don’t agree to change cs on consent then he will need to file a motion to change. You would counter with a motion to impute income.

Look at that case I mentioned (on canlii) and see what happened. You can also search canlii for “impute income” in cases for cs.

[StillPaying]

VA is due to a knee injury...

This is where you need to speak to a lawyer; your imputation case just got a lot harder.

CS goes by gross income, so when someone receives VA or LTD (non-taxable income) it should be grossed up to the taxable amount.

Whoever is in more need can file first, but so far it's all talk.
If ex files to update cs, it may go bad for you.
Filing for access or s7, would depend on the material change.

Hopefully you can come to an agreement on cs and forget the rest.

[rockscan]

Dante, you probably qualify for Legal Aid. May want to reach out to them.