Author Topic: Overall Financial Condition  (Read 14020 times)

Bocefus

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Overall Financial Condition
« on: September 14, 2017, 04:59:44 PM »
Hello all - I'm looking for some clarification as I'm planning for my November trial and hoping you can share some insight on a few things, including Overall Financial Condition. I'll try to summarize with some bullet points on the history of this case and then ask what leverage I have in using my financial condition to decrease my child support obligation.

- In 2013, Child support and Spousal support was set at nearly $3300/month using adjusted income figures that both parents agreed to.
- In 2017 I make just over 70% of our combined income and Parent B is requesting an increase of child support from $1862/month to $4000/month (rounding)
- The strain from paying an extraordinary amount of support for 4 years has put me in a very difficult financial situation. My current expenses, minus the $4000/month, put me -$2500/month in the hole every single month. Expenses do not include anything unusual. I have an old vehicle that's paid for, back taxes from the past 3 years, student loans, medical bills, and credit card payments. It all adds up.
- We have joint custody, I provide a home for all of my children, and the kids go to school in my school district, as it is a better performing district than then where Parent B lives.
- I was unemployed in 2017 for 5 months and still owe arrears on spousal support.
- My current employer is requiring that I travel extensively for the first 6 months to a year, only allowing me to have the kids 5 nights out of every 14 days (35% parenting time)
- Spousal support ended in August, but there are still arrears that are currently being put on hold until our trial.

That's the short of it, and I'm leaving out some details, I'm sure. I make a good 6-figure salary and still end up -$2500/month after I pay out $4000/month in support payments. I'll get about two months of reprieve from that since the judge ordered to suspend the arrears until trial, but I need to fight with every ounce of my being to stave off such an extraordinary amount of child support (for Parent B who holds a masters in business management but refuses to use it in their current career choice). I need to pay off taxes, credit, and be able to pay student loans, save for retirement, save for emergency, and be able to buy a vehicle when my current one can't go no more.

How can I use the Overall Financial Condition option to get some relief? Any thoughts or advice?

Thank you!