Shared Custody and CS question

[caps2]

I am in a shared custody situation with my daughter and would like to know how CS is calculated....In the years previous I have been compairing the two salaries in the table and subtracting the two amounts to come up with my payment. My EX is remarried and I am also with a young son and times have been tough in the last few years, as my EX decided to take a year off and volenteer at my daughters school and when the next tax season came around asked for a readjustment and made it extremely tough on our family fianacially, as the payments almost doubled. The next few years were also bad as from taking the year off, had a tough time finding steady employment in her field. I give everything to my daughter even if I can't afford it and don't draw a line in the sand for things she needs, as I foot the bill on most things.

I have to other questions that I would like some opinion on:

1. Was my EX entitled to CS and the increased adjustment that year and subsequent years she had been underemployed.

2.She has resently got a new job at a higher rate of pay, can we go off the new job for CS effective immediately?

This has been extremely stressful and would like to know where I stand....

[billm]

1. No. CS should be based on income, and in your case use the offset method to determine CS. Income is usually based your tax return, if you live alone, and not supported by someone else, and work full time, and report all your income.

In your case your ex is married, so when she is not working full time, or at her normal earning capacity, she is being partially supported by her husband. She is a package deal - he can't support her and not your son at the same time.

Her income should be imputed to what she could be making if she did not voluntarily quit, or perhaps half of her household income. Arguably, this includes her difficulty in finding full time work now, as she would not be in that position if she didn't quit. She made the decision to quit (obviously with agreement of her husband), because he was willing to share his income with her.

2. CS should be adjusted yearly based on the previous years return. If you adjust it that way, it will all work out and cover any changes in income. To adjust suddenly based on circumstances is not a good idea - just adjust yearly and it all works out. In your case though, you have been paying too much CS, so that has to be considered.

[caps2]

1. No. CS should be based on income, and in your case use the offset method to determine CS. Income is usually based your tax return, if you live alone, and not supported by someone else, and work full time, and report all your income.

In your case your ex is married, so when she is not working full time, or at her normal earning capacity, she is being partially supported by her husband. She is a package deal - he can't support her and not your son at the same time.

Her income should be imputed to what she could be making if she did not voluntarily quit, or perhaps half of her household income. Arguably, this includes her difficulty in finding full time work now, as she would not be in that position if she didn't quit. She made the decision to quit (obviously with agreement of her husband), because he was willing to share his income with her.

2. CS should be adjusted yearly based on the previous years return. If you adjust it that way, it will all work out and cover any changes in income. To adjust suddenly based on circumstances is not a good idea - just adjust yearly and it all works out. In your case though, you have been paying too much CS, so that has to be considered.

thanks for the reply....my ex was remarried at the time she decided to take the year off. I beleive I could have claimed hardship as I was also paying for Child care for my 1yr old son once my wife went back to work.

[HammerDad]

You realize that claiming hardship your spouses income gets drawn into the mix right???

[caps2]

No I didn't, but that is fine since my wife was on maternity leave and my ex wife's husband makes more than I do. I am frustrated as I see the things they are buying from new vehicles, to house renos and I was paying $600 a month because I choose to go to work, while she chose to stay at home and be compensated. She also recieved all the baby bonuses and child tax credits until our daughter was six. She also went as far as asking to be paid to look after our daughter for a few weeks....

[caps2]

Just to be clear she was fired from her job and the next year decided to take the year off of work.....

[caps2]

In you above statement about going off the yearly T4, it would be almost 4 times the amount of child support this year, as if I was to request an adjustment based on her new job, so I don't see how everything would even out...If I was laid off or recieved a substantial raise would that not change things?

[NBDad]

In you above statement about going off the yearly T4, it would be almost 4 times the amount of child support this year, as if I was to request an adjustment based on her new job, so I don't see how everything would even out...If I was laid off or recieved a substantial raise would that not change things?

In both situations it'd gets offset by a year. Can you adjust based on new situations immediately? Yes. Is it easier/less hassle to just allow the adjustment each year, which eventually takes care of lay offs/increased wages/etc? Also yes.

Do you have the child more than 40% of the time? Are you currently receiving the CCTB/UCCB for her as a shared arrangement? If not, why not?

[billm]

In you above statement about going off the yearly T4, it would be almost 4 times the amount of child support this year, as if I was to request an adjustment based on her new job, so I don't see how everything would even out...If I was laid off or recieved a substantial raise would that not change things?

The issue of her living off her spouse aside, let's assume she lives along and truly lives off of her income and only her income. Also, lets assume that your tax returns represent your income fairly (which they probably do).

You are supposed to raise your children in proportion to your incomes.

Given that you raise them for many years, you can simply adjust CS yearly based on what happened the previous year - this all works out in the end. By this I mean that if you add up all the income you made for the entire time you raised your child separately, and applied the CS tables it will be very close to this method. The only 'problem' is the first year and the last year, and only if the incomes are a lot different in those years. This method handles all fluctuation income etc. What it does not do is handle fluctuation immediately - so if you lose your job, you will have to find the money to pay CS until that job loss is reflected in your tax return, but by then you could be working again, yet you would then adjust your CS to be very low.

OR

You can adjust every time your income changes. This is argumentative, and disruptive, is hard to verify (unlike a tax return). And in the end this results in the same amount of CS as the first method.

So best to just pay CS based on previous year income.

If you lose your job, or make more money, it will all eventually be accounted for by the yearly adjustments.

[caps2]

In both situations it'd gets offset by a year. Can you adjust based on new situations immediately? Yes. Is it easier/less hassle to just allow the adjustment each year, which eventually takes care of lay offs/increased wages/etc? Also yes.

Do you have the child more than 40% of the time? Are you currently receiving the CCTB/UCCB for her as a shared arrangement? If not, why not?

I have her 50/50 and she is now 9....so my ex has claimed all those years up to now....The reason I was asking about circumstances, it that her income last year would be 25% of what she is now making and help me out considerably....