I'd like to share our story with everyone. We're still in the very early stages so you'll have a chance to follow along as we work through this. Please chime in with any comments, advice or case law you feel might be of any help.
First, a little history ...
- This is between my wife and her ex husband.
- They have two children, 11 and 8 and my wife is and has always been the primary caregiver. My wife and I have a three year old together.
- Ex sees the kids 2 days a week - has a good relationship with them.
- Ex pays $650/mth & 2/3 daycare and has never been in arrears.
- CS unchanged for 7 years
- Separated for 7 years, divorced for 4.
In August of 2009, my wife went to pickup the children at their father's house. She had decided it was time to discuss an increase in CS with her ex. As this was the first time she'd ever broached this subject since their separation six years earlier she felt it was both timely and fair due to the increasing cost of raising the children. It didn't go well for her. The ex became enraged and called the children to the door to tell them their mother was seeking more support and if he had to hire an attorney he would use the money from their Disney vacation fund. She knew he wouldn't be overly receptive to the idea (he's a bit of a cheapskate), but she had no idea he would behave the way he did. Since he refused to discuss a new CS arrangement between the two of them she asked for his personal and company returns as well as his company's salary breakdown. He agreed to provide his personal returns but refused to give her any documentation relating to his company. She left upset and confused.
A few days later she sent him a letter once again requesting full financial disclosure and informed him as to his legal obligation to provide this information under the Child Support Guidelines. Once again he refused, telling her to find herself an attorney. He also told her she would regret doing anything about it.
She and I discussed her next course of action and decided that if he was so unresponsive to an increase after 6 years he would probably behave the same way in the future. We decided she should at least speak to an attorney to discuss her options, or at the very least obtain his financial disclosure.
Now the saga begins ...
In early September 09, she made an appointment to meet with an attorney; the meeting was set for 3 weeks later. After two weeks she received a letter. It was from her ex's attorney and he was seeking 50% custody. He was also requesting that he no longer pay any child support as he would now take every second week off to look after the kids. My wife was distraught and called him. He told her that he had every right to seek the variation in custody and that she should have just left things the way they were - "I warned you you'd regret it, you should have left things alone".
So my wife meets with her attorney and begins to feel much better. Her attorney assured her there was very little chance of her ex being successful in trying to vary the custody order and was certain this was merely retaliation for requesting an increase in CS. To her attorney, this was a 'non-issue'.
A letter was sent to her ex's attorney requesting financial disclosure. Her attorney sent back his personal returns for 2007 - nothing else. Her attorney then sent letter number two .... then three. In December of 09 my wife had agreed to a round of collaborative law in an attempt to remedy the situation, however since she hadn't yet received disclosure her attorney canceled the meeting. A second meeting was later schedule for June 2nd, 2009. Two weeks before the meeting she still hadn't received full disclosure. Her attorney sent one final letter (number 5 or 6) stating that she would cancel the next collaborative meeting unless disclosure was made by week's end. Later that day disclosure was finally made ...
His personal returns showed an income of $1
His company income, on a $450k gross was .... $1
Of course we all shook our heads and waited for the the 4way meeting. Well, it didn't solve anything, and once again my wife felt as though this would go on forever. We'd spent a few thousand dollars already and she decided it just wasn't worth it to spend any more money, or drag this out anymore just for a few extra dollars in CS a month. She gave up.
So here we are seven or so months later and things are about to change. She decided she wanted her day in court. She decided she wanted him to stand in front of a judge and explain how he pays for CS, daycare, mortgage, cars, trips, and an RV all on $1 income. Sure he can write a lot of things off through the company, but this was excessive. This time she's going to self represent. And if the judge feels he truly made $1, we have no problem in letting him keep his $650 in CS. In the end, at least she can say she had her day in court and exercised her rights. At least she'll know she put up a fight even if the fight wasn't worth spending any more money on an attorney.
She's now seeking:
1. Variation of CS (retroactive to the date she first requested discussion of an increase) - impute income to at least that of his employees (60k)
2. Monies spent on attorney fees to acquire disclosure.
3. Variation in special expenses in proportion to new income.
We'll be serving him sometime next week.
Stay tuned for further episodes !
Linear
First, a little history ...
- This is between my wife and her ex husband.
- They have two children, 11 and 8 and my wife is and has always been the primary caregiver. My wife and I have a three year old together.
- Ex sees the kids 2 days a week - has a good relationship with them.
- Ex pays $650/mth & 2/3 daycare and has never been in arrears.
- CS unchanged for 7 years
- Separated for 7 years, divorced for 4.
In August of 2009, my wife went to pickup the children at their father's house. She had decided it was time to discuss an increase in CS with her ex. As this was the first time she'd ever broached this subject since their separation six years earlier she felt it was both timely and fair due to the increasing cost of raising the children. It didn't go well for her. The ex became enraged and called the children to the door to tell them their mother was seeking more support and if he had to hire an attorney he would use the money from their Disney vacation fund. She knew he wouldn't be overly receptive to the idea (he's a bit of a cheapskate), but she had no idea he would behave the way he did. Since he refused to discuss a new CS arrangement between the two of them she asked for his personal and company returns as well as his company's salary breakdown. He agreed to provide his personal returns but refused to give her any documentation relating to his company. She left upset and confused.
A few days later she sent him a letter once again requesting full financial disclosure and informed him as to his legal obligation to provide this information under the Child Support Guidelines. Once again he refused, telling her to find herself an attorney. He also told her she would regret doing anything about it.
She and I discussed her next course of action and decided that if he was so unresponsive to an increase after 6 years he would probably behave the same way in the future. We decided she should at least speak to an attorney to discuss her options, or at the very least obtain his financial disclosure.
Now the saga begins ...
In early September 09, she made an appointment to meet with an attorney; the meeting was set for 3 weeks later. After two weeks she received a letter. It was from her ex's attorney and he was seeking 50% custody. He was also requesting that he no longer pay any child support as he would now take every second week off to look after the kids. My wife was distraught and called him. He told her that he had every right to seek the variation in custody and that she should have just left things the way they were - "I warned you you'd regret it, you should have left things alone".
So my wife meets with her attorney and begins to feel much better. Her attorney assured her there was very little chance of her ex being successful in trying to vary the custody order and was certain this was merely retaliation for requesting an increase in CS. To her attorney, this was a 'non-issue'.
A letter was sent to her ex's attorney requesting financial disclosure. Her attorney sent back his personal returns for 2007 - nothing else. Her attorney then sent letter number two .... then three. In December of 09 my wife had agreed to a round of collaborative law in an attempt to remedy the situation, however since she hadn't yet received disclosure her attorney canceled the meeting. A second meeting was later schedule for June 2nd, 2009. Two weeks before the meeting she still hadn't received full disclosure. Her attorney sent one final letter (number 5 or 6) stating that she would cancel the next collaborative meeting unless disclosure was made by week's end. Later that day disclosure was finally made ...
His personal returns showed an income of $1
His company income, on a $450k gross was .... $1
Of course we all shook our heads and waited for the the 4way meeting. Well, it didn't solve anything, and once again my wife felt as though this would go on forever. We'd spent a few thousand dollars already and she decided it just wasn't worth it to spend any more money, or drag this out anymore just for a few extra dollars in CS a month. She gave up.
So here we are seven or so months later and things are about to change. She decided she wanted her day in court. She decided she wanted him to stand in front of a judge and explain how he pays for CS, daycare, mortgage, cars, trips, and an RV all on $1 income. Sure he can write a lot of things off through the company, but this was excessive. This time she's going to self represent. And if the judge feels he truly made $1, we have no problem in letting him keep his $650 in CS. In the end, at least she can say she had her day in court and exercised her rights. At least she'll know she put up a fight even if the fight wasn't worth spending any more money on an attorney.
She's now seeking:
1. Variation of CS (retroactive to the date she first requested discussion of an increase) - impute income to at least that of his employees (60k)
2. Monies spent on attorney fees to acquire disclosure.
3. Variation in special expenses in proportion to new income.
We'll be serving him sometime next week.
Stay tuned for further episodes !
Linear
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