Creating a spousal arrangement with variable overtime?

[rainyday]

My x's overtime is very high. It can be almost the same as his yearly base salary if not higher. What we would like to do is to determine a base spousal support payment and then set a percentage that he would give me on top of that on each pay that he makes overtime. So if he his base is X he pays me Y a month. Then on top of that he pays me Z% of whatever overtime he made that month.

Anyone have a resource on this or suggestions on how to set this up?

[representingself]

Set spousal support based on his guaranteed base salary. So if he is supposed to make $70,000/year, set SS accordingly.

Overtime is not guaranteed, and it is also pay for working "extra". If he decides to work more than he is supposed to, thus losing out on his own personal down-time, wouldn't it be fair to let him keep his extra money for his extra work?

Simplifies things and can be a great negotiating tool.... no?

[rainyday]

But if his base was 70,000 and for the past 10 years he has made between 100,000 and 150,000, that's a significant amount that he gets to keep to suuport one person. While I try to support myself and children on the much smaller amount. That difference would mean me being able to keep my home and losing it.

[Rioe]

Spousal support should be a fixed, predictable amount, with a fixed, predictable end point. A fair amount to make it possible for you to live while you re-enter the job market, retrain or finish an education. This is the amount you ex pays you in compensation for having made sacrifices to benefit his own career while you were together.

Child support should be the variable one, adjusted annually based on what he submits on his taxes. This is relatively easy to calculate as it is looked up on tables. It will go up as he works more overtime. This is the amount your ex pays you in compensation for the expenses having custody of the children brings you.

If you can't keep the house on those two amounts plus your own earnings, it's time to either downsize, or earn more yourself. The amount of overtime he works is up to him, and it's only fair that now that you are separated, you not automatically benefit from it.

[HappyMomma]

Bullshit to that I say.

The amounts should be based on his total income reported on his income taxes for the last 3 years, unless he has recently changed jobs. It should definitely be a set amount, not a percentage. If he stops working overtime suddenly, then the amounts can be reviewed.

[caro46]

Don`t you have the agreement reviewed evey year or 2? if so cs sould be based on what he made for the past year (or is it 3yrs?)... If it`s been 10 yrs it would show on his income tax, therefore you can ask for more that the set amount ... that would be my understanding and I would probably let it go for a year but 10... maybe not! Just a thought...

[caro46]

Oups... I see it`s about spousal and i don`t really know about that...
Sorry

[billm]

CS set according to yearly income, which includes overtime.

Seems kinda wrong though to pay spousal support on overtime. I think the overtime should be for him and the kids, not his ex. All the details are not presented so hard to know, but again, feels wrong to share overtime with someone you're not married to and probably don't even like (or they don't like you )

The ability to keep your existing home is not relevant to how much SS he should pay - things have changed, there is no guarantee that you can keep the same home.

[representingself]

IMHO ofcourse.... but I believe that any overtime should be off limits when calculating spousal support.

How is a person supposed to rebuild thier lives and support themselves when their ex spouse sponges off of every cent?

Usually you work overtime to make extra cash... not give away extra cash

[red12345]

I find this post very interesting. I myself have the ability to make extra $$ by working overtime. My X wants support based on every cent that I make and has no income herself. I have 4 children that primarily reside with their mother. I simply choose not to take any overtime pay becausse of this and take all the hours worked as time off. This is not likely fair to my children but I in return get to spend a lot more time with them....months summer vacation, weeks at christmas, march break and I still pay full support for the months in which I have them.
I don't feel that it is fair for me to work overtime just to pay 50% to my X who sits at home or at her new trailer in the trailer park.

On another side note she spent more than her SS last year seeing a shrink, that means that my CS is used to support her totally as well which isn't fair to my children either.

There is no guarintee that overtime will be available from year to year so how can support be based on overtime in the past if it might not be available in the future.

[PereAMav]

I am in this exact position, as the payee. As my OT can be substantial (or disappear) we agreed to calculate CS and SS on base salary. Each cheque I get with OT I do a quick calc on the OT amount and pass that along as SS. It takes a little time but not that much. I have a spreadsheet to calculate this for me.
Please note that in my separation agreement this is specified as SS. This is critical in that is has tax implications whereas CS does not. Hope this helps.

[rainyday]

I am in this exact position, as the payee. As my OT can be substantial (or disappear) we agreed to calculate CS and SS on base salary. Each cheque I get with OT I do a quick calc on the OT amount and pass that along as SS. It takes a little time but not that much. I have a spreadsheet to calculate this for me.
Please note that in my separation agreement this is specified as SS. This is critical in that is has tax implications whereas CS does not. Hope this helps.

This is the same as our situation. Our split is amicable and he wants me to stay in the home with the children and not go back to work.

So in your SS did you specify a certain percentage. So for example the agreement would say something to the effect of:

Person X agrees to pay person Y $Z amount based on the past three years of BASE salary. Person X also agrees to pay person Y V% of any overtime made each pay period.

If this is the case, would you mind giving me an idea of the %. I have no idea what would be a fair amount. Like you, his overtime can be substantial. Some payperiods are quite, but that is not the norm.

Thanks

[PereAMav]

Amicable, that would be nice, but I digress.
We used the same percentage that came from the support tables, in our case it amounts to 48% of the net OT goes to her. We actually forgot to specify the percentage, but as the number above is the one arrived at once all factors were included for our net income (our salaries, tax changes for SS etc...) it seemed like the correct number.
Hope this helps.

[rainyday]

PereAMav Thank you so much! This was incredibly helpful. As his overtime isn't just one or two hours a week, but could be 50-60 a week at double time, it is a pretty big factor.

Again, thank you for your help.

[billm]

What a hard working man! He'll make someone very happy someday, except himself

He should learn to work less and take care of his kids more - perhaps you rainyday can work more?