Changes in Child Support and such....Court...etc.
The BM is graduating this year... she has been in school for many years, and per the divorce agreement - my BF/FF had agreed on an amount to pay (the court did not decide on the amount), babysitting costs, and having the kids every weekend in order to help her finish school (she goes to school during the day and works every weekend). Now that she is graduating all that will get re-evaluated, in court. It will be interesting to see what happens (he is paying way more than he should be-and he is making less now than when he had agreed to the amount), and BM has strung out school as long as she could, along with taking time off from school, and then getting pregnant and not continuing school (she only had 2 semesters left-but for some reason could not attend classes during her first or second.. or heck even her third trimester).... She has actually made comments such as...well I am going back to school for my bachelors and/or masters... and it says you have to pay until I get employment... She expects him to pay for this arrangement for as long as possible.
Any one have any insight/useful info/similar stories... to give me an idea how this will go down? I know you can't tell me exactly what will happen, but I am just imagining her becoming a raving lunatic through the court procedure.. Will this be a simple and sweet thing? Or does this often last a long time?
Not sure. Spousal support
Not sure. Spousal support (which I think is what you're talking about with paying for school) is different than child support, and I'm not entirely sure how that looks. Is the wording in the divorce decree specific? (ie "He will pay her $X per month until such time as she obtains an Associates Degree, or for Y years, whichever comes first.") Or is it uselessly vague? ("He will pay her $X per month while she is enrolled in school.")
I might not have explained
I might not have explained myself properly.. He does not pay spousal support, only child support. Though, they had an agreement between them-that while she was finishing school (working weekends, and class during the week) he would pay x-amount of child support, and the kids would be in his custody every weekend. The divorce states that once she has achieved her degree they could then go in to recalculate the child support.
Had the courts calculated the child support at that time she would not have received as much as she is currently getting.
Does that make sense what I am writing? They agreed on a child support amount outside of court, and now that she will be graduating-they will be going back to court to allow the court to dictate the child support.
Ahhhh, gotcha, that makes
Ahhhh, gotcha, that makes sense! In that case it should be pretty straight forward. (Or, it would be in my state at least.) The judge will look at what each person makes, what their expenses are, and calculate child support based on a standard formula. (I can even plug numbers into an online calculator in my state, to see if going back to court is worth it.)
Now, if you want the court to recalculate, you have to have a REASON. Higher or lower salary, layoff, new baby, skid aged out, whatever. Sounds like you do though - she completed her degree, her earning potential is higher, AND your DH has had a pay cut.
If you're interested (and haven't already) google "child support calculator" for your state. Here's one, but there are others:
http://www.alllaw.com/calculators/childsupport/new_jersey
Allyskoo - Seriously OT but I
Allyskoo - Seriously OT but I love the fact that you have a David Weber quote as your signature. I love the Honor Harrington series.
Me too!! Talk about a strong
Me too!! Talk about a strong female lead... The newest books are getting a bit too "big" I think and losing some of the character development that I love, but his early Honor books ROCK.
Thank you!
Thank you!
I am not 100% sure, it has
I am not 100% sure, it has been mentioned that she is quite book smart and has received grants and such.
Though I am not sure if she uses child support/pays tuition herself/mother helsp/boyfriend-future fiancé-baby daddy helps or what.....
DHs ex has been a student now
DHs ex has been a student now for about 14 years. Almost 10 of them since they split up. He has primary custody so her child support is set at what she SHOULD be making by this point, not her waitress salary. Courts are catching onto the never ending student game.
She has been in school for a
She has been in school for a long time, and took time off, then took more time off because she was pregnant....but is finally finishing this year. But she wants to go back to school and from the sound of it-she thinks that he should be continuing their agreement because "she's still working on her education". It's good to know the courts will take that into consideration, as the divorce stated until she was finished with her degree-not till she feels like it.