You are here

Question!

colliebean72's picture

Hey there

OK, if anyone is from Massachusetts out there maybe you know the answer to this question!
My bf's ex wife, I can't stand her!! She's unemployed, has been since January. This has not stopped her however, from living her life like it's all normal. I'm talking she bought a new car!! (don't ask me how) along with all the other things, the hair, the nails, clothes, going out, etc.
My bf pays her close to $400/mo in child support. What happens if her unemployment runs out before she finds a job??? Can he be forced to pay more??
Him and I have a house together. I already pay more towards the bills as it is. He got a letter today, she's looking for over $500 to pay for a stupid camp she is sending their son to for 2 weeks (he already told her he didnt have the $$ but she went and did it anyway) and money for some prescriptions for their son (he carries both of them on his health insurance) and child support from when he was out of work on worker's comp. I could kill someone right now I am so angry!!
And don't know if this matters, but she lives at home with her mother.
If anyone knows if he's going to be forced to give this lazy loser more money if she doesn't find a job, please let me know!!!

blondie66's picture

In my experience, not necessarily. In my state, they calculate CS based on both parents' income. If there isn't any income, like in her case, they compute it based on what they call "earning capacity", which is basically whatever she was making before she lost her job. If your BF's income hasn't changed since last CS review, I don't see why they would raise CS - unless the judge is one of those BM-lovers. It's unfortunate she lost a job, but she needs to find a new one if she wants to keep the same standard of living, not supplement from CS. But that's logic and logic doesn't reside much in CS laws. Good luck!

spinknottle's picture

he's not giving the "loser mother" any money.....he's giving her child SUPPORT....you know.....to support his child?!?!

colliebean72's picture

my boyfriend does PLENTY for his son. PLENTY. anything else is above and beyond as far as i'm concerned. according to their agreement when they got divorced, they were supposed to AGREE on things they split payment on for their son. SHE wanted him to go to camp, my BF didn't but she signed him up anyway. My bf told her he didn't have the extra $$ for that, but she STILL did it. THAT ISN'T RIGHT! Now she's having a lawyer send him a letter looking for half that money??? Do you think that is right??? SHE SHOULDN'T HAVE DONE IT IF NEITHER COULD AFFORD IT!!!!!!

epgr's picture

BM is paying $50 a wk for 2 kids, thats only $200 a month, oh and lets not forget she is $3,800 behind..

desperateinalabama's picture

$400 may not seem like a lot to you but if you don't have it, $400 can seem like $4000. Besides, it is not the child support she is upset about, it is always have to shell out more money on top of the child support at whatever BM wants. I see nothing wrong with extra things needing to be agreed upon. How would you like for someone planning and spending your paycheck without your permission?

stormabruin's picture

If her BF agrees to pay these extra expenses, that's on him. It hasn't been ordered. Just because she has her lawyer write a letter stating that she wants him to pay half doesn't mean he has to pay half.

colliebean72's picture

well spinknottle, i would love to know how much of the money actually goes to his son. Seeing that they are either at his parents ( my boyfriend's parents that is) or my boyfriend has him. Seeing that she is only collecting unemployment right now, pays no rent, but was able to go out, buy a car, still get her hair and nails done, etc, I would think $400 is more than enough to cover a 7 yr old. I would be willing to bet a good chunk of that money goes in her pocket for things SHE wants to do for HERSELF. Not things she does with her son.

spinknottle's picture

ok, if you would like to know how the money is spent, Have your BF take her to court and have put in an order for financial reports.

Only then does it become the business of you and your BF. You do not have hte right to demand to know what hte money is for. You ALWAYS have the right to revisit any agreement if you feel the currect situation is not fair.

spinknottle's picture

Ya but the thing is that it's none of your business. Once the support is in her pocket, it's her money, not yours.....now if there was neglect going on, then your BF should go to court....other than that, she can spend the whole 400$ on twinkies.........doesn't matter. But the faster people get over this and understand this, the easier it will be for everyone

epgr's picture

then she should take the money and send the kid to camp.. she chose to do it, she should pay for it.
She is getting the child support, she has NO right to force more money out of him for things.. if she wants the kid to go to camp then she should pay for it.. if the dad already said he does not have the money..
and you are wrong, you dont know if he is paying CS and then has BM up his ass to buy this and that for him too.
Some BMs feel like they are entitled to more and more and more money..so it is this ladys business, it is taking out of her too, cuz BM isnt working so therefore she isnt doing shit to support her kid, besides calling her ex and demanding more money for things she has decided herself.. but you are right, she gets her money, and therefore she shouldnt demand anything above and beyond that.. with the exception of dr. bills and meds..and I wouldnt pay those without a bill from the place.

colliebean72's picture

no it does effect me. we have a house together, we have bills to pay as well. not just her, so yes it is my business. honestly, if you have nothing to contribute to this loop except nasty comments, then shut up.

stormabruin's picture

I don't really think that what she's contributing is nasty comments. It's not what you want to hear, but it's the way it is. You posted your situation on a public board asking for opinions. She's giving you the facts. You're making yourself look foolish in telling her to shut up.

colliebean72's picture

I was asking if people knew the laws in MA, not their opinion on child support. Big difference. And for her to say it's none of my business is foolish because him and I have our bills and that affects my money too, so yes, IT IS MY BUSINESS if it is taking money away from us and our house and OUR bills.

stormabruin's picture

The thing is, YOUR house & YOUR bills came after HIS SON. You posted with a crappy attitude about him having to pay child support & listed all the reasons he shouldn't have to give "that loser" money. You should expect to get comments in return...even ones you don't like.

spinknottle's picture

Your original post reeked of a bad attitude towards the BM, CS and the step child. My comments were rather mild considering what I really think.....

aggravated1's picture

Well being as this is a Stepparent vent site, of COURSE it's going to not be happy thoughts about a BM, CS, or a stepchild. Are you sure you are in the right place? Perhaps you were searching for the "let's all hold hands and sing kumbaya" site?

spinknottle's picture

I'm very sure I'm in the right place. I'm a step parent. Just because I didn't wrap my opinions in "kumbaya" like feelings doesn't mean I don't have a point.
I happen to not agree with her stance….as well, I don't see how calling the mother a "loser" really brings anything to the table. Her and her BF have choices…………they can choose to do something about this, they have legal recourse.

aggravated1's picture

I wasn't referring to how you are stating your opinions, I was referring to the fact you are going to find a lot of resentment and "bad attitudes" about BM's and SK's here.
And as far as BM's go, when they came out with the show "The Biggest Loser" I was really excited. I thought BM had got her own TV show and our child support would go down. Dang it.

spinknottle's picture

If that's the kind of person you are that's fine. You're the one that has to live with it, not me.

I don't mind finding bad attitudes about BM's nad SK's here, I also don't mind commenting on them the way I deem appropriate.

BTW, you don't have CS.....but your DH/BF does....

shouldIrun's picture

If she is unemployed and unable to financially take care of the child maybe who has custody of the child needs to be considered. Just a thought.

shouldIrun's picture

If she is unemployed and unable to financially take care of the child maybe who has custody of the child needs to be considered. Just a thought.

stormabruin's picture

Regardless of the house the 2 of you have together, the law says his financial obligation is first to his child(ren). That's just how it is. There is no law stating that the parent receiving support has to provide detail for how the money is spent. The fact that you can't stand her & feel like she's a loser...even if she truly is...doesn't change the fact that your BF has a financial obligation to her.

Doing for his son doesn't make his financial responsibility less. Him being on worker's comp doesn't make him less accountable for getting his support paid.

blondie66's picture

I'd like to interject and say that I, too, felt that comments of spinknottle were not helpful. Maybe not downright nasty but certainly confrontational.
I'm tired of hearing that anything to do with skids and/or BM is "NONE OF MY BUSINESS".
I'd like to hear an explanation for that statement.
My DH and I share a life, which includes money, errands, obligations, issues and, yes, fun stuff. His kids are part of OUR life and that includes all the good and the bad. CS, Alimony, all the extras he has to pay according to the agreement come from MY bank account, too, so yes, it's my business.
Just like it's my DH's business what and when and how much my (bio) kids get to spend. Geeez.

colliebean72's picture

Thank you Blondie! I thought there would be more people understanding of that!! How is it not our business when it affects us?? And yes, I know he is responsible financially, but if you guys knew the half of it, you would all agree with me. He supports him emotionally and financially. He is a much better dad part time then his ex could ever be full time as a mother to that kid.

colliebean72's picture

Yes I knew he paid $90 a week, and we based our buying the house on that fact. Anything else is supposed to be agreed upon before she does it. He said he didn't want their son going to camp and that he didn't have money for it. SHE DID IT ANYWAY!! Now she goes and runs behind the safety of her lawyer and demands he pays for half. How is that fair???!!! IF they were still married and didn't have the money for the son to go to camp, would she still have done it anyway?? I highly doubt it. And she's looking for freaking co-pays on doctor's visits from 2 freaking years ago. My guess is she needs the money to pay for that new car she is driving and decided now would be a good time to run back to her lawyer. My bf has gone above and beyond trying to keep things civil and she thinks she's still all best friends with him and his family and then she goes and pulls a stunt like this. All she did was make it bad for herself.
Thanks for everyone who replied. He's just gonna pay it and be done with it. But from now on she better watch what she does as far as signing their son up for stuff they both don't agree on!!! She'll be on her own then!

spinknottle's picture

Your BF does not have to pay that money until a judge orders him to. He doesn't have to pay ANY money unless a judge orders it.

If the copays were his responsibility 2 years ago and he never paid them, well it's still money owed. But if it was not his financial responsibility, he can tell BM to pound sand and until a judge orders it, he won't pay.

epgr's picture

JMO.. thats a big mistake.. pay it this time and it will be the same thing next time..
she can not choose for him to pay anything over child support.. any thing he pays over the set amount of support is him being nice (well except medical things if he is ordered to)
I had the same trouble with BM (way back when she had custody).. she was getting over 200 a wk and still demanding that DH buy the kids clothes, coats, pay for her gas to bring the kids to us when she is the one who moved to another state..she would even called in the middle of the night and said she needed 600 cuz she was just at the er with SS.. and DH bowed down to her every whim just to "be done with it" and he always always said next time will be different.. it never was until I pointed out that we were suffering because of it and he was supporting her and her boyfriend and thier kid (niether of them had a job).. I put my foot down and wouldnt let him pay anything over support, if the kids needed clothes we got them and they stayed here.. when the money stopped hitting her hand she got even worse. it was hard for her to accept the fact that she was no longer in control of how he spent his money.
I am not saying dont do anything for his kid.. but not going to camp is not a life altering event, his health is not at risk, he will be fine.
We had to take pretty drastic measures to prove our point to BM, but we couldnt and wouldnt live around her anymore.
Let her get her lawyer and take it to court, no judge in his right mind would order him to pay for camp that she chose to sign him up for! and besides by the time it gets to court camp will no longer be an issue.
If he pays this time he better be prepared to pay for the other stupid shit she chooses.. like the $150 sneakers he "has to have", and I highly doubt anyone is gonna force him to pay for those..

spinknottle's picture

I don't know you but your post kinda made me giggle a bit considering that you say his kids are "our" business, but I hear a lot of people here say that they have nothing to do with the children/they married the man, not the child/ he's not my keid/ well you get the point.

PoisonApples's picture

Damned right there should be.

In our case SO was paying around $2000-$2,500 per month (depending on exchange rate). He became ill and couldn't work back in 2007 so our savings started being used to pay it. SO went to court to have it reduced because of his situation. Both has to submit a 'statement of means' (listing of expenses and income). Hers showed her spending $2000 per month on home improvements (she had a 3 year old house and was getting her kitchen refitted, new floors, new bathrooms, new patio - the works, $150 per month on her hair, $400 per month on her clothing, $150 per month for window cleaning and on and on. This was during the coldest, wettest winter in a 100 years. The skids didn't have coats and their ONE pair of shoes were tennis shoes 2 sizes too small with huge holes in them. The clothes they wore were disgusting - old hand me downs from her sister that had already been through 3 children, stained, ill-fitting, sometimes smelly. She showed off all HER new things, new Ray ban sunglasses, new bikes, bought herself a new car, all the latest designer clothes....but the kids would tell us 'Mommy said she can't buy us new coats because you aren't paying her for us' - that kind of thing.

So, the judge refused to hear the case for the reduction due to some legal loophole on filing time or something, said we had to wait a year and try again. In the meantime CS continued to be paid by running up SOs credit cards after our savings were depleted. When his credit cards were maxed out it fell on ME to pay. I did for a bit but the bitch was so nasty and hateful that I stopped and SO started paying her the full amount of his illness benefit - about half what she was used to getting - and every other expense fell on my shoulders.

So, don't tell me it's none of MY business what she spends CS on. If the children's needs are being neglected while the BM remodels her home, buys a new car and pampers herself then it is EVERYONE'S business.

spinknottle's picture

Listen, I'm not an idealist, I'm a realist. Yes, Ideally it would be wonderful if BM in my sitch had to give us an itemised list of what she spends her CS on. Realsitically, that's not what happenes. That's not the law.

I didn't attack anyone, I gave a different "viewpoint". I said the faster people get over this, the better it would be for everyone. I've never told anyone to shut up…actually quite the opposite….I was told to shut up. Is there not room on this meesage board for a poster who doesn't go with the flow and thoughts of the majority?

The only recourse anyone has if they believe their child isn't benefiting from their financial contribution is to go to court.

epgr's picture

If I were your bf, I would pay the support and do nothing more, seems like BM is a little full of herself, thinking she can force him to pay for camp.. which I do not believe she can make him... besides by the time it goes to court camp will be over.. so let her waste her time.
your bf needs to stop handing over money whenever BM demands it, she is still controling his life, and now yours.. she is dictating how he lives.. and she can not do that.. she no longer has that privelege.. its will be hard for her, but it has to be done or you will be living around her and whatever whim she is on at the moment.. hell next thing you know she will be demanding thousands to send him to space camp or something .. stop it before it gets any further.. if bf has the money and wants him to go to camp they should have talked about it.. but she signed him up and she should pay for it... he cant spend forever paying for things she chooses!!

folkmom's picture

Ideally he put in writing that he would not pay for the camp. always put that in writing.

if he did, print a copy, forward it with a letter response back the the attorney...quote the section of the decree that states they must agree and say "we did not agree, this is a unilaterally assumed expense by BM and she is responsible."

second, Mass is an earnings capacity state, and if she went back to court they judge should consider her earning potential. problem...they do not HAVE to.

third, is the child under 7? in mass the mother does not have to work full time when the child is under 7.

pay the co-pays. don't argue. in mass it won't fly.

as for the back support from when he had no income, pay it. not paying it will never fly in mass.

aggravated1's picture

Folkmom is right in everything she says. The child support needs to be paid, the back child support needs to be paid, and the medical copays need to be paid according to the decree. Don't pay the camp if he didn't agree to it. I have to do this all the time with DH's ex-she is a professional at trying to get whatever she can.

starfish's picture

my bm is a L-O-S-E-R, too!!! and i am working to do everything i can so dh does not have to give that pos one more dime!

i do agree, if dh's income has not increased, the court should not increase child support....

and if she wants skid to go to camp, then it should come out of her pocket if there was no upfront agreement with bf to go in half.. but that may interfere with her hair & nail funds...

collie ~~ you have every right to feel the way you do ~~ don't be afraid to use that delete button for those who want to bash you for your feelings and frustrations, instead of offering support or advice like you asked in you original post.

spinknottle's picture

Do you live in an income shared state?? i'm from Ontario, here the only thing taken into consideration is DH's income.....not BM's. The only time BM's income is take in consideration is Section 7 expenses (which are things like healthcare, extra currics, orthodontics, etc) And then you still have to submit a motion to the court to have it income shared otherwise it's 50/50 split right down the middle (which is what we do)

Would you feel good if your DH never had to give BM money again? How would he then financially support his child?

I agree that the camp money should be completely out of her pocket BUT she has every right to talk to her lawyer nad get him to write a letter. Same as the father in this situation has every right to stand up and say no.

I did offer collie advice. I told her that her BF didn't have to pay one cent of money that is not ordered.

desperateinalabama's picture

From what I have been reading, spinknottle and blendedfam never bring anything useful to the table besides judging the posters. Just read some of their other posts and take what they say with a grain of salt.

spinknottle's picture

Your kidding me right? Just because I don't jump on the whole "BM's are losers" bandwagon doesn't mean I don't have anything valuable to say. If I could offer one peice of advice to new SM's coming to this board, I would say be careful on how the posts here can twist your thoughts. There are such things as manageble situations. Harping on BM's and SK's instead of your own husbands doesn't do anyone any good.

CS may not always be "fair" but it is what it is. Many people do not stand up for their own rights and instead blame someone else. If you don't have the amount of CS that is ordered then something is wrong and things need to be revisted. It's funny how you think I'm judging people when in actualy fact, more than one person here has "judged" me.

This is a board for advice right??? Not just pats on the backs and "oh hunny it's ok"'s??

You may not like what I have to say but at least my view points are realistic.

Oh and I don't seee how it's bashing the OP when I explained to her that her husband or BF or whatever doesn't have to pay ANYTHING that is not ordered.

anabihibik's picture

It is true. It would be lovely to know exactly how child support is being used, but that just isn't how the systems are set up. That is a whole can of worms that the legal system doesn't want to touch. And, when you consider how long it takes for anything to get through some of these systems with the amount of crap that goes through them now, can you blame them? I understand the frustration and anxiety of helping to pay bills because your SO has child support. I used to be in a relationship with a man who found out he had twins conceived during our relationship six months before we were supposed to get married, and I paid ALL of the rent and for ALL of the supplies for the babies to get set up to have them at our house. I was so angry because all of his money went to child support. I was mad because I saw BM driving a new car in this among other things. When I left that relationship, I felt really angry and regretted the money I'd lost in the situation. At the end of the day, I had to let go of those feelings because I am the one who CHOSE to spend my money that way and stay in the situation. And, as the lawyer told us then, no judge wants to hear you complain about how CS is spent. It only makes them mad. I know that it isn't necessarily what you pictured for yourself, but you need to ask yourself if this is how you want to continue to feel. Absolutely, I agree don't pay for the extras if SO doesn't have the money. But, remember that that is SO's obligation when it comes to child support. If you CHOOSE to pay more in the bills or help finance things for the child, that's your CHOICE with your money. It can be really hard to separate the two when you are trying to build a life with someone. I'm just trying to show you a different way to look at it that helped me.

The other thing I would look at here is where is SS? Who is really taking care of him? Maybe a change in the custody agreement is warranted if she isn't having him. That may actually reduce the child support. I would also suggest helping with the medical stuff. It will just make SO look better in court.