50/50 joint physical custody and child support
Does anyone happen to know about joint custody and child support laws in Maine? BF and BM split SD9 completely equally and the agreement states that neither party is to pay child support to the other. She is supposed to provide medical insurance and anything not reimbursable is to be split 50/50. In addition, she is supposed to be paying for 25% of daycare which she has never done so in my eyes she's in violation of the agreement. BF is not obligated to give her anything at all but he gives her money for clothes/winter things PLUS he gives her money for birthdays and Christmas which I think is TOTALLY ridiculous. He also pays 100% for extracirricular activities, etc while BM gives him nothing and bitches constantly about how she should be getting child support. Now she's talking about taking him to court, which I say BRING IT ON but he's scared he's going to have to pay her monthly. I'm just curious what his rights are and if she really could have the option to take him to court for back child support for the last four years. I've looked into it a bit and it looks like he could have to pay but due to the fact that they split custody 50/50, they wouldn't necessarily go by the standard worksheet. Plus I think that BM's remaining underemployed intentionally so that when she does take him to court she can complain that she makes such a small amount of money. Any info would be appreciated.
He's actually started to
He's actually started to grow a set and isn't catering to her every wish anymore. I'm glad he's finally getting a little mouthy with her. I wish it was more but I'll take what I can get. BM gets to claim SD9 on her taxes and also claims the childcare tax credit even though she doesn't pay a dime for childcare. We've finally gotten her to the point where she emails everthing (thankfully) so we have a record there plus we forward all text messages to a text forwarder. Don't know how legal it is but at least we have a trail. As far as I can tell from the small amount of research that I've done is that they don't take stepparents income into consideration but I'm not sure about that either and it may not matter anyway. BM and her BF aren't married and neither are we. We have seperate bank accounts but I know that BM and her BF have joint.
I just have one question.
I just have one question. Any money he is giving her, is he keeping receipts for these things. I would say if he isn't then now would be the best time to start saving these things. Or anything he buys SD could just be kept at his place and BM can just figure things out on her own.
Unfortunately he isn't and
Unfortunately he isn't and that's something I've been harping on him about for 2 years. I've been keeping a file with public record information about her BF's multiple bankruptcies and records of incidents that she's caused as well as the divorce agreement. (Actually went to the lawyers office to get it). We're also forwarding all text messages to email, which I need to print out. I did tell him that he should go to his bank and have them pull any and all checks that he's written to her as far back as they can go. I know they have to keep them in retention for a certain period of time... I've also told him that he should make her give him receipts before he gives her anything. I know that she's inflating the amounts that she tells him. Either that or she has a serious spending problem. I absolutely agree that each of them should be buying her clothes that stay at each house. I feel like if she's got 2 sets of clothes, that could cut down on a lot of this. I think he's starting to come around on this so I plan to continue to push it. I took the bull by the horns last week and went and bought her several winter items of clothing to head her off and when she tries to tell him that he owes her hundreds of dollars for clothes that he can say "No, we already got her winter clothes." The problem is that she thinks she's entitled to money because she "suffered" so much. It has nothing to do with SD9. It's also interesting that any argument she starts having to do with SD9's "best interests" ultimately boils down to her wanting money. I find her to be so pathetic and despicable.
"BM's remaining
"BM's remaining underemployed intentionally so that when she does take him to court she can complain that she makes such a small amount of money."
The courts usually go by a parents' worth. Worth is working 40hours a week and getting paid at the level of the parents'experience or higher. They will factor in how much BM would/should get paid if she was working full-time at her experience level.
Keep in mind we are in the middle of a recession so either of the above could be challanged by BM stating that this is the only work she can find.
True. Do you think they'd
True. Do you think they'd actually look at her hours though? She seems to call out at least once a week and doesn't to my knowledge actually work a 40 hour week. Plus she got a criminal justice degree that she's not even tried to do anything with. Maybe that could work in our favor?
If you guys challenge her
If you guys challenge her hours she's going to need to show proof. A paystub will show the hours she working, vacation time, sick leave...all of that. The latter point about her degree wouldn't likely work. It isn't blatant enough....i.e....she was a cop that quit the force then got a job at a fast food joint. A degree isn't experience at least in the courts eyes especially if she got it several years ago.
I think that the lynch pin
I think that the lynch pin in this situation will be % of parenting time. If BM has your Skid more than 50% of the time then regardless of the 50/50 custody situation your DH may end up paying CS to BM. Conversly, if your and your DH have the Skid more then BM could owe CS to your DH.
Willful underemployment can also bite the BM in the ass. My Son's (SS-017) BioDad (SpermZilla) is under the mistaken impression that if he earns less he pays less CS. Not true, as a Licensed Plumber his earning potential is well documented and we used the pay range for licensed plumbers to get his CS increased by 750% even though he refused to provide income information and ran from more than one Constable and process server. When he would not supply income information the CS Enforcement office sent my Wife a request to provide as much information on SpermDad's employment as she had. We looked up his plumbers license # and found the income range data for the county he lives and works in. When the court implemented payroll withholding from his pay checks he came whining in to court about how unfare it was. Eventually the court reduced the increase from 750% to 450% but nailed him by making it retroactive to the original attempted delivery date of the court summons. SpermZilla purposely works less than full time at a wage lower than his earning potential because he thought it would lower his CS. He has yet to reallize that he is only screwing himself and his kids by being a worthless dipshit.
I would recommend that you make absolutely sure that your DH has the Skid at least 51% of the time and do a ton of research on BM's earning potential. Combined with thourough records of conversations and expenditures you can nail BM's fanny to the CS wall.
Good luck and best regards,
Success is rarely final. Failure is rarely fatal. It is character, courage and consistency of effort that count. Vince Lombardi (with some minor Rags modifications) To each according to their performance, screw Karl Marx. (Rags)