Making an offer to settle CS

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bookgirl1209

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First a little background.
...ex is on WSIB and in Labour Market Retraining, for 3 years since separation he's been in school and graduated last June. He's been paying me child support (adjusted for my contribution to mortgage etc on matrimonial home that he was going to stay in but decided to sell.
When house sold child support was supposed to go up but he and his lawyer delayed it for 14 months until he graduated and his WSIB benefits were cut back to a way lower income. He threatened in April of that year that soon he was going to graduate and have a low income and no job so he was going to come after me for child support.

He did find a commission only job that he quit after 4 months and is now claiming that that income should not count because he had expenses.

He's had no job since Feb but maintains that he is going to get one. I've heard through the grapevine that he has one contigent on a police clearance that could take up to 120 days.

He wants to go to court to decide all this, I'd like to avoid that as legal bills are already killing me. I am thinking on self representing from this point on.

He says I will have to pay him $212 a month in CS. My calculation on just our incomes at this moment in time put it more like $100/month.

I also have health benefits that I must pay for through work that his share comes to $62 a month. That is taken into consideration in the $100/month.

I would like to put forth 4 options to him.

1. we take the last 3 years of income and go by the average (Which would put him paying me $303/month)

2. we take his current income and imput a part time, minimum wage job (Which would put him paying me$35/month)

3. we take his current tax return income - his rrsp withdrawal - his expenses from his commission job. (which would put him paying me $128)

4. N either of us pays CS (as he maintains now that he will get a job soon) and I will continue to pay health benefits for the kids.

Do these options seem fair and reasonable? Is there another option that I'm not thinking of?
I'm trying very hard to settle this without going to court.
 
You don't state what your income is. He was injured/disabled, unemployed, on disability, benefits were cut and he hasn't found permanent employment. He's been out of the workforce for years and has limited recent experience, probably none in whatever field he's been retrained for.

As such, there is an argument there for spousal support, at least for a couple of years, if the genders were reversed we wouldn't even be having a conversation about it.

The options you are detailing presume a level of income he is not able to achieve, especially the three year average or the cashing in of RRSP. That might be fair to apply to any CS arrears, but means nothing going forward. A three year average might be fair if he was in the same job and experiencing some ups and downs in income level, like available overtime. It's not "fair" when he can't return to his previous job, he is retrained but can't achieve a permanent full-time position yet.

He can't keep cashing in RRSPs indefinately.

I'm unclear why he would be paying you if he was imputed a part-time minimum wage. The level of "part time" seem arbitrary. Impute him a full-time minimum wage, without consideration of any other income (this would usually be $20k) and compare it to yours. He should certainly be able to earn this amount. If he is not working and seeking a job to pay more than this, that is certainly to his credit but the minimum wage is a fair solution for imputation for now.

Without knowing what your income level is or what job category he's been retrained for or what the typical employment prospects are, it's impossible to declare that one option is "fair" or "more fair" than any other.

I can't even really disagree with your own assessment, but you haven't put forward sufficient reasons to back up your statements. Please take what I am saying positively, you may have reasons to support your proposed options, but you need to be clearer about those reasons.
 
My income is $34700 a year. His new WSIB income is $22,900 a year.
He had carpal tunnel and chose not to have surgery but to go for retraining while we were still together. He was entered into the engineering program at University but found that too difficult. I became his advocate and fought WSIB to let him swtich to College.

He went for retraining in Finance, Accounting and Taxation.

My thoughts for imputting a part-time wage was that taking into consideration his retrained field and the economy he should be able to get at least a part time job. In fact the commision job he had and quit would have paid him at least that much.

The 3 year average was based on reading I've done that showed that is often used. I understand that his situation is a little unique but I thought I'd throw it in as an option anyway.

There is no option for spousal supprt. I never asked for it in the beginning when he was making $55,000 and I was making $32,000 and we have a signed agreement waiving any spousal support payable by either party.

As far as RRSP's that is why I backed out that amount and didn't include it in his income.

My concern is that we will go to court now and have CS based on this moment in time. He will get a job and I will have to go back to court to get it adjucted and then he will quit and we'll have to go back again.

I would just like it to be done. Hence the offer of no one pays any CS. We'll call it even and move on. And I'll even take on the cost of health benefits for the kids.
 
bookgirl1209 said:
My concern is that we will go to court now and have CS based on this moment in time. He will get a job and I will have to go back to court to get it adjucted and then he will quit and we'll have to go back again.
Click to expand...

Just keep it simple and do what most people do (or should). Calculate CS based on tax returns and adjust yearly. As for a starting point, use his last years tax return, or guess for the first year if that does not reflect his current income.

That is what you agreement should state - SA/CS agreements should NEVER specify exact amounts, only a formula and when/why to adjust IMHO.
 
Most CS amounts are "this moment in time" and it needs to be addressed yearly anyway. CS is the children's right, the primary consideration shouldn't just be cutting a deal between the adults, although that will happen.

You don't need to go to court yearly, certainly not with lawyers and trials. If you exchange financial info and adjust it yourselves then there is nothing to go to court for. In theory if one of you went to court in 5 years there would be no arrears anyway if you had been updating it yearly. You can spell this out in your separation agreement and it is in both of your best interests to be co-operative.

If you don't update it yearly between you, then due to the obvious ups and downs you are both opening yourselves up to trouble and expense and arrears in the future.

If you need a court order for support, this can still be updated yearly through consent motions. One party files and the other agrees, or else you can both file affidavits and financial proof and accept the decision of the judge. Generally you shouldn't need a lawyer to do this, certainly not if you update it regularly each year.

You need a court order if you need, or think you might need, to use the FRO. This depends on you and your ex and your ability to co-operate. Court orders can come in handy too when you have to show your income levels for things like OSAP or housing subsidies or daycare subsidies. If you can come to an agreement between you it should not be difficult to file a consent motion and avoid lawyer's fees.

When you file for divorce you can have your agreement incorporated into the divorce order, then it becomes an order. So then updating it yearly is simply filing the forms (if you agree, swap financial proof, etc.)
 
He won't want to use his last years tax return because his income is $37,000 and his current income with just WSIB is $22900. He wants to use that with no imputting of income.

But in the beginning of the separation he wanted to imput me income when I was already working.
So my way of thinking - if he wanted to do that for me, we should do it for him too. But surprise! He just wants to use his WSIB income.

And he wants arrears back to October when his WSIB went down from $55000 to $22,000
 
I'm starting to see that I will probably pay him child support until he gets a job and then hope that he tells me he got a job (cause he hasn't for the last two) and then hope that he agrees to adjust yearly without a long protracted fight as is his normal way.

My thought was originally that I would offer the four options and hope that he picks one or that if it goes to court that a judge would say one is reasonable ( the one where no one pays and I'll pick up the cost of health benefits)
 
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