Change in CS - what do you think?

Teenagers learn pretty quickly how to work the system. I am not sure if you did say how old the boy was but if he is 16 now and skipping school he likely only has 1 more year of fulltime school and I doubt he would be attending college so does child support not end at that point?

I would suggest Betty requests some mediation between herself and Barney. They have been paying offset CS so no one was receiving full tabled CS and likley managing okay. Perhaps Betty could suggest she gives Bam Bam an monthly allowance equal to the amount she has been paying in offset.

I know CS is the rifht of the child etc etc. but recognising that BamBam could easily decide he,wants to move back with Betty at any time so if both parties are willing to sit down and negotiate an arrangement they can a oid a lengthy motion to change CS, which could cost $$$$ and take a year.
 
Yuo, if I were Betty that would be my preferred solution - agree informally with Barney to give him an additional sum each month Bam-Bam is living with him, rather than go through the hassles of arguing over the order, as Bam-Bam will probably age out before it gets resolved if they go the court route. My advice to Betty was that settling with Barney may be the quickest and simplest way to deal with it.

However Betty is concerned that if she gives Barney more money, Barney will pressure Bam-Bam not to go back to Betty, and Barney's home environment is a bit of a disaster. My suggestion then was to sock away the money in Bam-Bam's RESP, so it doesn't look like Betty is being stubborn because she wants to keep the CS for herself.
 
While I don't agree with what Barney and Bam Bam did, this situation to me is no different than a parent you takes a child and leaves the house. Even if the other parent objects, they still must pay CS until such time they either of equal access or what not.

I get there is an order, however orders can change, parents can make their own agreements. I do hope during this time that Betty hasn't been accepting CS from Barney during this time. If Betty was so concerned about the court order and what was in Bam Bam's best interest, why hasn't she been to court yet for contempt or to force Bam Bam back? I can't imagine waiting over 9 months to get to court... something isn't adding up to me and it seems Betty is using the court order to get out of CS.
 
I think Betty sincerely believes that 50/50 is in the best interests of Bam-Bam, so this isn't just about paying more CS. However, I agree the optics aren't great, which is why I suggested parking money in an RESP.

Betty, Barney and Bam-Bam have been down this road before - Bam-Bam gets mad at Betty's rules, runs off to Barney's, who lets him stay as long as he wants, eventually gets into a fight with Barney and comes back to Betty (who imposes 50/50 - she doesn't let Bam-Bam just move in permanently). However this is the first time that Barney has ever asked for CS to be recalculated.

It seems to me there are two principles at odds here:

1. CS follows the order. Parents are responsible for complying with the court order, because it exists for a reason.

2. CS follows the child. No matter why the child is living where s/he is, parents should adjust their support payments to reflect where the child spends most of his/her time.

I can see logic to both principles, and I don't know which would prevail if this got to court. I wish Barney and Betty could get themselves in front of a mediator and sort this out, but there's way too much mutual distrust. However, I'm a friend of Betty's, so I see her side, and I think she's right to distrust Barney, given some of the stunts he's pulled in the past.
 
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