1st appearance CS

[JB514]

Hi everyone and thanks ahead for your advice. Here is a simple break down of my situation.

I am self employed. Last court order for CS in 2006. Since then my income was lower then at the time of court order, but I did not file to vary CS not to aggravate my ex.

However, lat year's income was more by within 10Gs. The ex filed motion to vary CS according to the guidelines.

I am proposing averaging my income for the last 3 years since my income varies every year according to section 17.1 of Federal Guidelines and applying that income to the guidelines.

My lawyer is flexible and doesn't mind me going to 1st appearance on my own to save money.

My question is if I do not agree to CS based only on the last year and want to average last 3 years and my ex will not agree to my proposal what will happen the?

Also, can someone(registrant/ ex's duty counsel etc) make me accept the CS amount based on the last year only?

Do you think it is common to have your income averaged since if they don't I will have to be back in court next year again.
Thanks

[NBDad]

Technically you should have a mechanism for the automatic recalculation of support every year, based on the prior year's NOA line 150.

At the end of the day, you are fighting over a minor amount of money. This is going to cost you more in lawyer's fees/etc than you will save.

Submit a reasonable offer to settle to the ex and call it a day. (ie. that go forward CS be recalculated based on the NOA Line 150 amounts and the table guidelines, with a July to June Payment schedule. NOA to be exchange no later than June 30 of each year.)

Suck up the cost difference this year, and make sure you recalculate EVERY year, even if the difference is only minor. The onus is on YOU as the payor to make sure you are recalculating each year appropriately. Otherwise you run into crap like this.

[HappyMomma]

Suck up the cost difference this year, and make sure you recalculate EVERY year, even if the difference is only minor. The onus is on YOU as the payor to make sure you are recalculating each year appropriately. Otherwise you run into crap like this.

If the ex fails to provide the NOA as agreed every year, can you be held responsible for back-support??

[JB514]

Thanks NBDad. Then I have a question to what you are suggesting. I pay to FRO and to my understanding they are not going to recalculate or accept recalculations without the Court Order. So would I have to go back to court next year to get a recalculated new Court Order? Or if the court order states that the CS to be recalculated yearly FRO does recalculations according to NOA? Thanks

[NBDad]

If the ex fails to provide the NOA as agreed every year, can you be held responsible for back-support??

If the ex refuses to provide the NOA as agreed, you file a motion with the court to compel them to provide it, ask for contempt of court and for your costs to be covered.

[NBDad]

Thanks NBDad. Then I have a question to what you are suggesting. I pay to FRO and to my understanding they are not going to recalculate or accept recalculations without the Court Order. So would I have to go back to court next year to get a recalculated new Court Order? Or if the court order states that the CS to be recalculated yearly FRO does recalculations according to NOA? Thanks

FRO typically will ONLY enforce actual numbers in a court order. You'd have to get a new court order each year OR get the ex to agree to withdrawal and recalculate accordingly.

Not a huge deal, you'd typically just provide your NOA, request hers and then file form 15D? I think (Consent Motion to Change Child Support). You'd fill it out, send it to her for her to sign off on, then you'd take the completed form and get it to the clerk.

Check with the FLIC (Family Law Info Center) or Duty Counsel for the exact process, but as long as you get her signature on an "on consent" motion, it'd be simply rubber stamped. Then you take THAT "updated CS order" and file with FRO. Might take a couple weeks to get processed, but it'll ALWAYS take that long, so it'd be simply offset by a year.

It's a pain in the ass, but the kicker is that if you do it EVERY year without fail, assuming your income varies a bit, then she has no grounds to come after you for more money (it's already being handled) AND she can't try any foolishness with retro active CS requests. CS and extraordinary expenses SHOULD be the easiest things of a separation/divorce to do, however they usually are the hardest because they are the bread and butter for Custodial parents.

Upside is that if it's in your order AND she refuses to either provide her NOA OR sign the on consent motion, you simply haul her to court and ask for the order to be updated as per the agreement AND for her to be found in contempt AND for your costs (including that she pay back any overpayment of CS that her stalling has caused).

Rinse and repeat. She'll eventually get tired of having to pay your legal fees.

[JB514]

Thanks. Does she have to provide NOA? Also, who has to make recalculations? Do I use just one of those online CS calculators or it has to be done by court?

[Mess]

Ideally you use an online calculator, you involve your ex in the process, you agree and get a motion to change the existing order on consent, meaning you both agree and it is rubber stamped and costs you nothing.

If the ex doesn't agree, then you have to either get the duty counsel to do it so you have the calculations with their signature stating it was done properly, or you get a lawyer to run it through divorcemate. If you just use the online calculator you have nothing to print off to attach to your affidavit. The judge doesn't want to do the calculations themselves, that's not their job.

[JB514]

Thanks Mess!