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Child Custody - Full vs Joint/Child Support/Shared Expenses

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J

jtward

Guest
I live in Colorado. My wife and I have been married for 9 years and living together for over 13. My wife has 2 children from a prior marriage. For the past thirteen years her children have lived with us. Last year they decided they wante to live with their father. In the process of trying to lower the child support payments their father and his new wife filed the paper work and wound up with sole custody of the children.

My questions:

1. If he has sole custody, does my wife have to pay child support?
2. While he had sole custody, he decided to get braces for both of them. We where not included in the decision and when he did tell us he was going to do it, we told him that we did not have the money to do it, to wich he said that he would take care of it. He is now asking for half. Are we liable? Can this be considered elective cosmetic procedures?
3. If leave the custody as is, can my wife still see the kids? can the kids demand to see and speak with their mother?
 


haiku

Senior Member
jtward said:
I live in Colorado. My wife and I have been married for 9 years and living together for over 13. My wife has 2 children from a prior marriage. For the past thirteen years her children have lived with us. Last year they decided they wante to live with their father. In the process of trying to lower the child support payments their father and his new wife filed the paper work and wound up with sole custody of the children.

***How did they(actully HE, as step parents don't get custody) "wind up" with sole custody, was your wife not present in the court room to ask for joint? also what sort fo custody? thier is sole physical ,and sole legal. Are you talking about both? Legal means that the parent with sole gets the final say on all major decisions involving the children.***

My questions:

1. If he has sole custody, does my wife have to pay child support?

***Of course she does, they are still her children and her responsibility is to help support them. Sole custody does not mean she gave up her rights as a parent.***

2. While he had sole custody, ***He does not have it anymore?**
he decided to get braces for both of them. We where not included in the decision and when he did tell us he was going to do it, we told him that we did not have the money to do it, to wich he said that he would take care of it. He is now asking for half. Are we liable? Can this be considered elective cosmetic procedures?

***What does her court order say about medical expenses, she only needs to follow a court order, also it would likely be VERY difficult to prove braces are only needed for 'cosmetic" reasons, if the kid has buck teeth or a misaligned jaw the kid needs braces period.****

3. If leave the custody as is, can my wife still see the kids? can the kids demand to see and speak with their mother?

****Why was visitation not addressed with this "sole custody" order? Is there information you have not posted?***
 

tigger22472

Senior Member
Every thing Haiku said is correct but I want to elaborate a bit...

The difference between joint and sole custody is THIS... In both cases both parents are to be in formed of any medical treatment.. school things... even sports... anything that relates to the child. In joint custody if one of the parents disagrees then technically it's not to be done unless it can be proved to be dangerous to the child if it's not. However in sole custody the CP has the ultimate decision...

Example as I have sole custody myself. My son was in wrestling this year. If my ex disagreed then it would not matter because in the end I get to make the final decision.

Ok.. not the best example but an example.

As Haiku said visitation should of been addressed when custody was. Where does dad live? If there is a significate difference in the parents then that could be why he got sole custody.. not sure.
 

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