I have been divorced for over two years now. I have a very expensive Separation Agreement with my ex-wife, which lays out our 50% shared custody arrangement with our eight year old daughter. I pay 50% of all expenses related to my daughter, including childcare. My daughter lives with me 50% of the time. I make $75k in salary and my ex makes $60k. Last week I was served with court documents in which my ex is going after child support and extraordinary childcare expenses totaling $500 per month. In my Separation Agreement under the heading 'Releases' it states "except as otherwise provided in this Agreement, name and name release each other from all claims at common law, in equity or by statute against each other, including claims under the Divorce Act, the Family Law Act, and the Succession Law Reform Act." Can someone please tell me if my ex can win her court argument for the child support and extraordinary childcare expenses, even though I have the aforementioned statement in the Separation Agreement?
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Separation Agreement - Binding Contract?
- Thread starter Photon
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Child support is the legal right of the child and cannot be signed away in any agreement. The claims that you have signed away are primarily property equalization and spousal support.
Your ex can certainly reopen the agreement any time and seek child support owed.
If you had received independent legal advice at the time, you should have been informed of this. The agreement is legally binding unless it is witnessed, and it is not enforcable unless it is registered with the courts. If you provide some clearer information about the circumstances of signing the agreement, we can give you a bit more of an opinion on how much the rest of the agreement would hold up.
Your ex can certainly reopen the agreement any time and seek child support owed.
If you had received independent legal advice at the time, you should have been informed of this. The agreement is legally binding unless it is witnessed, and it is not enforcable unless it is registered with the courts. If you provide some clearer information about the circumstances of signing the agreement, we can give you a bit more of an opinion on how much the rest of the agreement would hold up.
How is your agreement very expensive if you're not paying child support? If you're paying 50% your ex is paying the same as you? Your incomes are reasonably close, so you should be paying a little bit more than 50%.
Offset child support is $682 (for you) minus $546 (for her), so you should be paying $136 per month, plus your just above 50% of section 7 expenses.
Offset child support is $682 (for you) minus $546 (for her), so you should be paying $136 per month, plus your just above 50% of section 7 expenses.
Thank you for your comments. I'd like to clarify that I'm not contesting the need to support my child, I'll give whatever I can to her. My ex is asking for extra money for child care, which we currently share at 50% each. Also, she's provided documents declaring her income where her yearly income for 2012 is not corresponding with her hourly income. I know she took a significant amount of time off last year but does that mean I'm now responsible to give her extra money because she decided to take an unpaid leave of absence (this is what I presume because of the hourly versus yearly discrepancy). As far as I'm aware our daughter has the same standard of living in both homes. I'd like more clarification around the so-called extraordinary costs associated with child-care, considering we both pay only $150 per month for this. If you need more information, please ask. Thanks again.
It seems to me that you are looking at pretty low amt. 300/month daycare is really cheap probably due to the fact you D is in school.
D is 8 so your daycare expenses are coming soon to an end. I would recomment find a way to agree with your ex. Litigation will cost you more than just paying her.
D is 8 so your daycare expenses are coming soon to an end. I would recomment find a way to agree with your ex. Litigation will cost you more than just paying her.
Find out her demands and post them here (demand 1, 2, 3, 4, etc) and people can advise what the law will allow vs. what she WANTS. There is a big difference.
Note if she is suppose to make an income and doesn't, she will have to provide written proof to you why she didn't make that income. Not showing up for work and taking the day off is not a valid reason and is considered intentional under employment to a judge.
If she couldn't work for medical reasons she would have to provide doctors notes, etc to prove that. Also a letter from her employer would be required saying she works 40 hours a week at $16 for example.
Remember child support and how you split child expenses are determined by the previous years income. They are set each July 1 and run until the next July 1. So since July 1, 2013 is just around the corner you will have to update your child support offset amount based on your 2012 and her 2012 incomes starting July 1, 2013. Maybe this is what she wants.
Expense splitting ratios will also be set July 1, 2013. So if she made less maybe she is asking for this/next year the ratio be changed and updated as per her 2012 income.
Note if she is suppose to make an income and doesn't, she will have to provide written proof to you why she didn't make that income. Not showing up for work and taking the day off is not a valid reason and is considered intentional under employment to a judge.
If she couldn't work for medical reasons she would have to provide doctors notes, etc to prove that. Also a letter from her employer would be required saying she works 40 hours a week at $16 for example.
Remember child support and how you split child expenses are determined by the previous years income. They are set each July 1 and run until the next July 1. So since July 1, 2013 is just around the corner you will have to update your child support offset amount based on your 2012 and her 2012 incomes starting July 1, 2013. Maybe this is what she wants.
Expense splitting ratios will also be set July 1, 2013. So if she made less maybe she is asking for this/next year the ratio be changed and updated as per her 2012 income.
Find out her demands and post them here (demand 1, 2, 3, 4, etc) and people can advise what the law will allow vs. what she WANTS. There is a big difference.
Note if she is suppose to make an income and doesn't, she will have to provide written proof to you why she didn't make that income. Not showing up for work and taking the day off is not a valid reason and is considered intentional under employment to a judge.
If she couldn't work for medical reasons she would have to provide doctors notes, etc to prove that. Also a letter from her employer would be required saying she works 40 hours a week at $16 for example.
Remember child support and how you split child expenses are determined by the previous years income. They are set each July 1 and run until the next July 1. So since July 1, 2013 is just around the corner you will have to update your child support offset amount based on your 2012 and her 2012 incomes starting July 1, 2013. Maybe this is what she wants.
Expense splitting ratios will also be set July 1, 2013. So if she made less maybe she is asking for this/next year the ratio be changed and updated as per her 2012 income.
Note if she is suppose to make an income and doesn't, she will have to provide written proof to you why she didn't make that income. Not showing up for work and taking the day off is not a valid reason and is considered intentional under employment to a judge.
If she couldn't work for medical reasons she would have to provide doctors notes, etc to prove that. Also a letter from her employer would be required saying she works 40 hours a week at $16 for example.
Remember child support and how you split child expenses are determined by the previous years income. They are set each July 1 and run until the next July 1. So since July 1, 2013 is just around the corner you will have to update your child support offset amount based on your 2012 and her 2012 incomes starting July 1, 2013. Maybe this is what she wants.
Expense splitting ratios will also be set July 1, 2013. So if she made less maybe she is asking for this/next year the ratio be changed and updated as per her 2012 income.
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