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Modification Question

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ksmom3:
My son is 9, my original orders were done in 2003.  It was in done in a smaller county, he was younger and cost of living wasn't as high.  At that time I believe my monthly income was about $890/monthly and he was $1980/monthly.  Now we live in JOCO, he is older and I am making more $ as well.  I get an hourly rate paid weekly and a monthly commission check that varites. So my first question is how would my income be figured since its not set?  He is no longer working.  He might be doing side jobs for cash around his area and then gets money from parents, however, he has another child support case that was filed last year.  On that he reported 1600/monthly income, she gets more child support than I do.  He hasn't had a regular job since 12/08.  Yes I would like to modify because I think he is capable of paying more for our son.  No he doesn't see him, by his choice, my son is with me 100%.  Should I let it go and maybe see what might turn out?  I guess I should mention he doesn't pay right now and is over $5000 in arrears.  He has the 2 kids, mine and the other.

Guru:
ksmom3,

I can't say I blame you at all for wanting to establish a modified child support order.  Things have definitely changed over 10 years.  But, whether the extra monthly amount will be worth the legal expense and possible legal hassle is a question you have to ask yourself.  I think most attorneys would probably charge you about $1000 to do it.

I'll tell you what I think I know - if your child support order was established before this other one you mentioned, yours takes preference as far as I am aware.  So his full income would be used to establish the support for your child, then when he files for his second child, the child support (monthly) would be taken out of that in the income section of the guidelines.  It sounds as if you have a copy of his other support order.  If so, you can probably just use that income without any better number to look at.

As far as income for seasonal and periodic payments, the courts sometimes just look at average incomes.  For your hourly job, they would probably  look at your last few paychecks and determine the monthly average.  With your commission checks, they'd probably do the same.  They might look at the last 6 months average and project you normally receive a certain amount/month.  If you sometimes don't get a commission check, you should mention that.  These are treated just like performance bonuses and the courts are really trying to get a piece of that money.

If you try out the calculator provided on this site you will actually find out that your income will make very little difference in the final child support number.  It is based about 95% off of his income.  So, don't get too worried about your income levels.  Worry more about proving his income and learn more about this other child support case.  Since yours was filed first it should work in your favor.

If you need assistance filling out the worksheet, you could PM me your information and I'll send you a filled in sheet so you can see how it works.

Guru:
ksmom3,

You have mentioned requesting extracurricular activity costs in your motion to increase child support.  I simply wanted to capture that in the forums so we can see how the judges rule on this topic.  In my opinion you should request this, but I believe the intent of this provision is to allow for expenses which are well above those normally incurred for a child at a particular income level.  However, since the committee left this provision wide open to interpretation, we will probably see different judges ruling all kinds of ways on this.  Please be sure to let us know how this works out for you.

ksmom3:
With the worksheet figured up on the information I have for him it only increases my support $15/month and switches us on line D2.  On my current orders his portion of unpaid medical bills that he is responsible for is the percentage found on D2 which is 68.9%.  The new worksheet done up as his percentage much lower and mine at 69.1%.  Maybe I'm better off leaving it til he gets a job, if ever.  It's so frusturating!  But, I just did a change of venue so hopefully more will happen in this county.  However, even though he has arrears, he made a payment last month when he had to go to court in the old county, so this county says he has to be behind 30 days before they send him a letter.  Thank you for helping me out with the worksheet.  I need help with enforcement and I am still researching more into this and will be writing letters next. 

Guru:
Well, you can always file a motion for him to provide you with his past 2 years tax returns and documentation on his employment.  This way you can at least assemble a solid worksheet to see how much it increases.  Also, like I mentioned, you could motion for the extracurricular activities as well to see if they court will grant them.  That could increase support by $100/mo depending on how much you spend.

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