Thanks for the help.
I am going to reply again for others reading this forum to give payors some help and perhaps some inspiration if they have similar issues.
My case involves 2 kids ages 2 and 6. "Shared Residency", and "Joint Custody" as agreed by mother and father (me). We live in the same small town in western Kansas. Kids are 1 week with her, 1 week with me. We live 3 miles apart.
Just after divorce file in Jan 2011, attorney told me that he made a great "deal" for me of $1500 combined Maint and CS for temporary. At the time, I did not know anything about how this stuff was calculated - using 80/20 rule is what he was doing.
Jump to final divorce hearing which was supposed to be last Sept 2011. At an Aug 2011 hearing, after all discovery and just before the pre-trial, Judge calculated my CS at $300 and Maint at $500. CS was based on $70,000 income and $16,100 (min wage imputed). If you run the 80/20 rule on this, it is impossible to get $300 CS for me. Judge was doing "Shared Residency Rule" or taking the diff of our CS obligation and dividing by two. Never to this day have attorneys or judge told us who is to pay Direct Expenses.
Why Judge calculated it that way is unknown, but my attorney did not suggest it. My attorney didn't care to find out why or ask. Jump to Jan 2012, night prior to hearing, my attorney had the gal to suggest my Maint should be $950 and CS $700. I told him to "get lost" and put Maint at $500 like Judge did. Her income went up to $22,880 and mine to $73,000 (so very similar).
My attorney and I argued night prior and during hearing and I never agreed to his $700 CS. But, in court on final hearing, my attorney presented CS $700 and Maint $500 and ex-wife agreed. Judge did not make a ruling because we agreed. Now I am going for "Motion for Reconsideration" It has to be done 28 days after signed date or divorce decreee (that puts me at this coming week in March 2012 to get the motion in). I am going for April 1 guidelines with Shared Residency and not sharing clothing; or I will go with me paying Direct Expenses (because I have paid 90% of them and no reimbursement for over a year) and staying on the old guidelines and she will then pay me CS. Get this: I keep kids 60% of the time and 2 year old 85% of the time during ex's work day and my work day. Essentially, my home is a Day Care and I see kids all but every other weekend. She sees them in the evening on her week of Residency and every other weekend.
I fired my attorney 2 days after hearing in January because I studied the CS guidelines, both old and new. I "dove in" and learned it well. I built two spreadsheets that calculate CS and read all the surveys, letter to the supreme court from the committee etc. Now I have discovered that many payors out there are getting the shaft by some (not all) lazy attorneys who do not care and will not work. One attorney told me that I should do another case for malpractice -- attorneys must do as we request even if it is wrong. The funny thing, my attorney wrote and signed a letter stating how I disagreed and "ignored him" before and during the hearing. Ignored him? Bascially he signed and sealed my malpractice evidence against him. What to gain from this: always get things in writing, even when you are disagreeing with your attorney.
I will do a post after the Motion for Reconsideration. Meanwhile, let me know your thoughts. I am "Pro Se" and proud of it. I am looking for some source of court room procedures, but I will go sit in the court house in Garden City to get used to how things work.
