Has anyone's ex-h get c.s. LOWERED?
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| Sat, 02-05-2005 - 2:14pm |
My ex said is going to try to do that. He got fired from his job in December. Before he got fire he bought a new condo and a new huge SUV (he said it was all for his "new family" of course) and was living pretty well. He told me that he doubts he's going to find another job that will pay him as well and that he is thinking of getting the c.s. lowered. I remember one of the items in our divorce papers (that HE insisted on putting in there) was if I ever lost my job that I couldn't go after him for MORE support (i.e., get c.s. increased) so that me losing a job doesn't affect him. So why should him losing a job affect me because future jobs won't pay well and because he has large expenses as his condo and suv? Those are HIS problems, not mine! What are his chances he DOES get it reduced? We've been divorced for 3 years and I have never asked for a c.s. increase so I'm hoping if this does go to court that they deny it.
Has anyone's ex-husband ever get their child support successfully lowered?

I got my child support lowered, but only because my ex-h agreed to it. After we separated but before the divorce was final, I took a lower paying job. My previous job required overtime and I could no longer work that, because for one I had to pick dd up from daycare 1/2 the time (before we separated I dropped off and he picked up because my job was more demanding) and I had also been diagnosed with a chronic illess and could no longer keep up the same pace or cope with the same stress level. But my ex-h agreed to the cs being lower. We just signed a piece of paper saying we both agreed to it, my lawyer said that was okay. We thought it would go up soon because I started getting bonuses, but her preschool cost just went up too and I pay that, so he agreed to keep the cs the same.
Most state laws will compute the child support based on each parents income or potential income. Potential income comes into play when a person is voluntarily under-employed. To prove that his child support obligation should be lowered, he will have to have a mountain of evidence that it is not possible for him to maintain the same income level, for example copies of rejection letters he's received, information suporting nobody is highering in his field, lots of evidence he has tried every last possible way to maintain his previous income level or proving that he was previously over-employed (paid way more than he was qualified for). It's a big burden to overcome to get a judge to lower the child support obligation and my guess is that it's unlikely although it can happen. For example, if he was disabled and can prove he can't work and his disability checks are $xx and will be that forever, it could be lowered. I have read cases where fathers have had cs lowered temporarily after being laid off, but it is reinstated to the previous level once they find work. I also read of a case where a father wanted to lower his child support obligation so he could quit his job and go back to law school. He argued that doing so would benefit his children because down the road he would be paying more support. The judge said no. Usually the legal test is whether the reduction in income is voluntary, and even when the paying parent is fired, that is often considered voluntary because he did something to cause the firing, and even being laid off could be voluntary underemployment if the paying parent does not do enough to find another job.
You are best to contact your attorney and ask if there is any history of NCP's getting cs lowered in your ex-h's situation. Every state is different, and every jurisdictions has it's own judges that can interpret the law differently.
Edited 2/5/2005 4:36 pm ET ET by firstamendment
Karen ~ wildlucky4me
Karen ~ wildlucky4me ~