Tentative agreement

[ftmomont]

Some support or advice??

We had a question period scheduled by our lawyers set up for oct 1. Yesterday my ex submitted an agreement to settle, so questioning postponed.
Specifically....I pay him for equity of house --17000
...................he pays $350/ month cs for 3 kids ( based on his declared income of 18000) and no variation for 4 years
...................no extras etc ( sec 7 ? )--for 4 years
...................no ss
...................EOW visitiation and one mid wk visit
...................Joint custody

Again he is an able-bodied guy capable of at least a minimum wage job but choses not to work and in fact does make more money than declared.(I did his books 10years)
But my lawyer says its expensive to prove he makes more (ie cash jobs thru his business)
I am and was always in a higher income bracket. We were married almost 10 yrs-separated 1 year already....and have been in this process of divorce for one year with all the bills and nothing to show even yet.

Any thoughts as to what I should do in regards to the agreement.....I dont want to settle for anything less than my kids deserve.Is it worth fighting for Sole custody?
any thoughts?

 

[Janus]

Again he is an able-bodied guy capable of at least a minimum wage job but choses not to work and in fact does make more money than declared.

Any thoughts as to what I should do in regards to the agreement.....I dont want to settle for anything less than my kids deserve.Is it worth fighting for Sole custody?
any thoughts?

Do you want sole custody because you think it would be better for your kids if their father had no legal say in their life, or because you want more money?

 

[Berner_Faith]

You may have an uphill battle proving he is making more, but before you settle, you should ask for full and frank disclosure, and you should also provide the same. Request CS be updated annually and tax returns be exchanged annually. Section 7 expenses should be split proportionate to income.

Is there a reason he does not want 50/50? Does he think you will not go for this? 50/50 is always in the best interest of the child, unless one parent is truly unfit.

Joint Custody is something you should accept, no reason both parents cannot make decisions regarding the children.

Cannot comment on SS without numbers.

 

[NBDad]

I pay him for equity of house --17000

Is that fair equalization? The house is just one part of it.
Joint assets - joint debts = equalization / 2

Is that where the 17K is coming from? Don't just figure the house equity is worth 34K and therefore he gets half. Things like joint lines of credit, joint loans/etc all come into it as well.

He pays $350/ month cs for 3 kids ( based on his declared income of 18000) and no variation for 4 years

Yeah. NO. Recalculated annually based on Line 150, with full income tax documents as supporting evidence exchanged yearly. He has a business? Is he using the business income or his owner's draw as his declared income?

Your CS recalculation should ALSO include his business tax records, including income/expenses.

Did he give you full disclosure re: expenses/etc. (Any expense that is also for personal use (ie. cell phone, car, etc) should be added back in to his income).

Billm has posted before about how HE does it, might be worthwhile for you to search the forums for that info.

no extras etc ( sec 7 ? )--for 4 years

Pro rata split of section 7, percentage again, recalculated yearly.

no ss

You technically make more than he does? This should be a no brainer. No SS for either of you.

EOW visitiation and one mid wk visit

If that's all he wants.../shrug

Joint custody

All joint gives him is an equal voice in the medical, religious and educational decisions.

You might want to toss something in there about YOU have residential care and control. (Basically if the two of you cannot agree, YOU make the final call, short of a court order being brought forward from him)

Again he is an able-bodied guy capable of at least a minimum wage job but choses not to work and in fact does make more money than declared.(I did his books 10years)

If he's been in business for longer than 5 years and does not declare AT LEAST the equivalent to a McJob, it's time for him to get a McJob, OR at least be imputed an income equal to full time hours @ min wage.

But my lawyer says its expensive to prove he makes more (ie cash jobs thru his business)

Don't prove. IMPUTE an income equivalent to FT hours @ min wage. Write into the agreement, if he declares < that, then the income is = to that for the purposes of CS and section 7 split.

 

[billm]

...
Joint assets - joint debts = equalization / 2
...

Correction

All assets - All debts = equalization / 2

(also your net worth brought into the marriage is yours)

 

[ftmomont]

Thank you so much for your responses.
He has 2 businesses that he values at zero .( fitness place and a relocation service) He purchased the one business with partners 5 yrs ago for $120 000
Yes he runs everything (all his personal expenses thru his books at either place) Then the expenses are so high that it looks like he doesnt make any money. His accountant does his income tax .He does cash jobs to suit himself as well.

He has never been an active father even when we were together. He would hardly be home most evenings .He didnt work his schedule ( of the business he ran) around his family. He isnt insisting on anymore time with the kids ---money is his main issue.Me having them 88% of the time is good with him.
When it said no ss in his agreement-----it is saying that he will not go after ME for ss if I pay up and agree to the offer.
I agree--a minimum wage should be imputed and I do not feel that the cs of 350 with no extras is really fair to the kids.
He has provided virtually nothing to the girls in this past year.
He has extravagent tastes ( designer jeans) and even has been on a week vacation this year! ( But hasnt paid support and only earned $18000 last year -ln 150)
My lawyer says there is no entitlement to ss anyway .

I do just want to settle this but again I want to be fair to my kids. He has been acting like he is so much in control and basically threatening me with going after ss. Pretty much blackmail if I insist on going after him regarding his income.

Now he came up with this agreement. I just want to respond in a way to try and get it done as i do not want to incur very much more lawyer bills.
I've worked worked with the lawyer one year and have spent 10 000 and im still at this point--back to square one.
In january i gave him virtually the same agreement--but i was paying out 8900 and he would be paying 400. He didnt like that agreement , he wanted more!

I really appreciate your comments and advise......