section 7 planning

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Betsy

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Situation: Ex wants to claim gaming computer he bought for our son to use at his house as a section 7 expense. I find that hard to swallow, also the two weeks of computer day camp he enrolled him in while he had him over march break and one week in the summer.

Background: Son lives primarily with me and visits dad alternate weekends and one week night. Dad ears over 100K, my only income is SS and CS.

Question: Will I owe him money (albeit a small percentage) for section 7 expenses ? For a gaming computer ??!! In the future when son goes to live primarily with his dad as I will be away studying will I be hit with section 7 invoices? I will need to plan carefully to cover my own tuition/living costs etc. so some warning would be good!
 
Google "section 7 extraordinary expenses federal child support guidelines". Copy the definition and send it to your ex. Ask him to explain how a gaming computer qualifies as a legitimate extraordinary expense, with specific reference to the guidelines.

In short, this is nonsense. Ignore it. In order for your ex to expect you to share an expense, he should have obtained your consent in advance. No advance consent = no obligation to share the expense (with a few exceptions).

Just a word to the wise, you can expect to be given quite a hard time on this site if your only source of income is your ex. Unless you're physically unable to work, you would probably do well to start earning income of your own, even if it's very little. Total dependence on someone else, especially a jerk, never ends well.
 
She said in her post that she's going back to school. Presumably this is to develop a future career. I don't know why you're being so harsh.

But yes, when your son goes to live primarily with his dad, not only will you still have section 7 expenses, YOU will be the one one paying him CS. So budget for that!
 
Oh get off all your high horses, I didnt come for judgement just section 7 advice... If this is the typical reaction of this forum I dont see the point of it
 
Betsy said:
In the future when son goes to live primarily with his dad as I will be away studying will I be hit with section 7 invoices? I will need to plan carefully to cover my own tuition/living costs etc. so some warning would be good!
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You could try to get the other party to consent to having something along the lines of (any/all/an altered version of) the following added to you agreement.

14. Prior to any request for s-7 reimbursement, the requesting party will provide the other party with a copy of their filed tax return and Notice of Assessment for the previous tax year.

15. The party requesting the s-7 expense reimbursement shall provide the other party with a copy of the original receipt(s) showing the full cost of the expense incurred and offer them the opportunity to pay their (agreed upon) expense portion directly. This will allow for both parties to become directly involved in Xxxxx’s activity and lessen the likelihood that one party be viewed as more “in charge” than the other, in the eyes of administrators.

16. The parties agree that only expenses that total more than a $200 calendar month threshold shall be eligible to be deemed an s-7 special or extraordinary expense.
 
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Betsy said:
Oh get off all your high horses, I didnt come for judgement just section 7 advice... If this is the typical reaction of this forum I dont see the point of it
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Good that you are going back to school to upgrade yourself.

I realize you feel like you are being judged but step back and really think about it. You are no longer in an intact relationship so things change. You also have to provide financially for the child. Once he is living with the father primarily, you will be responsible to pay CS and some section 7. You need to figure out a working budget now before you go back to school. You may find out that school may be impossible at this time.
 
unfortunately betsy..that's all you really get from most on this site. They love to judge and it doesn't matter how you phrase it. God forbid you don't agree with 50-50 :( or receiving child and spousal support :eek: Run while you can!!!
 
My apologies to Betsy, those posts were off topic, inflammatory, judgemental, insulting, based on a complete lack of information about your life and situation, and a violation of the message board rules.

I hope you keep posting and are able to get the information you need here.
 
Betsy darling....Welcome to the forum, and I hope you stay! First off, ignore the Gamin computer S.7 Claim...heck I pay CS and spend more money during my time with child on clothing et al and don't even ask for a portion (S.7 Stuff from mom)

Personally, I am big on education and help mentor kids about the importance, whilst helping them grasp Maths, Physics and Chemistry. Anyone that is willing to go back to school, is a Star in my eyes :)

As well as being a dad, doing my day job, taking courses for my day job, I am also a student doing my MBA in my own little time left in the day.

So good on you....

However, the forum does have a vendetta against those after SS especially, and scroungers that expect to be carried. I am guilty of speaking out about this too. In your case though, you are actually looking to do something with your life
 
worldscollided said:
unfortunately betsy..that's all you really get from most on this site. They love to judge and it doesn't matter how you phrase it. God forbid you don't agree with 50-50 :( or receiving child and spousal support :eek: Run while you can!!!
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As an aside, this seems an unhelpful comment. View the threads started by worldscollided, and you will have some context from which this comment comes from. 50/50 access is generally viewed as in the best interests of the child(ren), so most will question why 50/50 is not being sought after. It takes exceptional reasons for that to not be in the best interests of the children, and those reasons are usually not the ones mentioned, by posters, not agreeing to 50/50.
 
Question: Will I owe him money (albeit a small percentage) for section 7 expenses ? For a gaming computer ??!!
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No...its not a legitimate S7 expense.

It takes exceptional reasons for that to not be in the best interests of the children, and those reasons are usually not the ones mentioned, by posters, not agreeing to 50/50.
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Agreed. The reasons that most people that come on the forum and cite are regarding behaviors that they didn't like about the stbx spouse during marriage...often associated with their own relationship with them. Just because you decide to divorce your spouse doesn't mean that you get to decide whether or not they can continue to exercise their parental rights.
 
unfortunately betsy..that's all you really get from most on this site. They love to judge and it doesn't matter how you phrase it. God forbid you don't agree with 50-50 :( or receiving child and spousal support :eek: Run while you can!!!
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Honestly, if you don't like the advice given to you here, simply disregard it. I'm sure that most of the people on this forum are strangers to you...so their opinion is completely meaningless unless they provide you with something that you find helpful. As an adult, I ignore any advice or person I don't consider worthy of my attention or consideration. If anyone here judges me...lol, I don't give a rat's ass...its just a computer screen. Judgement only bothers you if you're insecure about who you are or what you're doing.
 
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