Back CS

[toomuchstress]

Hi Everyone,

My Question is, and this may upset some people, but
if the one receiving CS wants now to go back to orginal order (98), even thou they have verbally changed it to the current tables in 06, just because of the inheritance that he now has, can you also then go back and say that you want custody of the children? (they are 15 & 12).

I understand that if you were not getting a fair settlement, to go back to original order, but if you had a lawyer and agreeded to a payment, then how fair is this system to keep going back to court to get more money, its really not in the best interest of the children unless you were at poverty level and your ex was living the high life. (now, i grew up with out a dad and no support from him ever! and my mom worked hard to provide for us, but she did, and we were ok.)

thanks

[Mess]

Custody can be reopened any time, it is never carved in stone. That said, there would need to be an actual reason to reopen custody, which would have to do with the children's changing needs and well being.

You would have to show that there was a good reason, just saying something isn't enough, there has to be some kind of factual evidence. So think about it and decide if you can make a case for it.

The fact that the amount of CS might be changing, or any other financial issues is not ever considered a reason to change custody. The courts won't appreciate the children being caught in a tug of war because of money.

As far as the CS amounts go, in your example, it could be reopened on the grounds that the amount has changed by a verbal agreement and this agreement maybe is needed to be legalized. In your example the change is to increase to the table amounts, so there is absolutely no reason to justify going to court over this alone, the two of you should (theoreticly) be able to sit down, sign it, have it notarized and registered with the court at minimal cost.

The idea that getting an inheritance would change the CS amounts far fetched. There are maybe a few reason why this could be so, like if the original settlement was a reduced amount due to hardship, and now with the inheritance the hardship has ended. The other example might be a really significant inheritance that would be expected to be invested and the return, even at 3 or 4% on a GIC, would add to the payer's income. But that is nothing directly to do with the inheritance, it is to do with line 150 on the tax return. Again, a change like this you should be able to do out of court.

The ex has absolutely no claim on the inheritance, and other than what I said above, the inheritance should not affect the CS payments. I'm sure the ex can find a "yes-man" lawyer who will say anything is possible, but this would never get through the courts, it would turn practically everyone's Settlement Agreement upside down.

Even when a couple is still married, an inheritance is not considered family property. CS is based on income, not assets, so unless the inheritance is some really extraordinary amount that boosts income dramaticly, it wouldn't affect CS.

I should add too, the children are 12 and 15, they are old enough to have a say and this would be an acceptable reason to have a change in custody, if they wanted it.