Just got Served with notice of hearing/support modification papers

[tekkman]

Recap: Indiana here , I'm the CP of my 2 daughters, Ex wife got approved for SS Disability..... here we go:

She's petitioning for 3 things:
1. For the SS checks the kids will start receiving to replace to support payments(actually is a little more than what support was).

2. For her to not be responsible for carrying medical coverage on the children any longer(which makes sense since she cannot work any longer)

3. For her not to be responsible for paying 50% of out of pocket medical expenses any longer after the Indiana 6% Rule(which basicallly has meant in our case that I pay the first $836 in out of pocket medical , then she has had to kick in 50% after that).

#1 and #2 I can understand but #3 I don't. Does this seem right?? She will still have income(actually more than what I make per month). How can she get !00% out of paying anything for her children?

Also her lawyer advised her to stop with support payments immediately. The hearing Date is not until Oct. 22. SS is suppossed to start the last wednesday of this month(August) but I've still not received the notice that it has actually been approved.

I do not have any money for a lawyer. I barely get by (as I'm sure a lot of you do yourselves) as it is. But I feel like I have no choice here. Thoughts anyone on this?

 

[tekkman]

Well I found out who provided free legal aid for low income in my area. Called and did the phone application ... I qualified ... got an appointment setup for this Friday. They call me back a few hours later to tell me they cannot help me as it would be a conflict of interest. Apparently my ex's lawyer works for/with the same firm that handles the free legal aid. They couldn't tell me that for sure because of confidentiality but what else could it be?

Guess my next step is to start calling every lawyer in the phone book and see who will help me , if any will.

Any thoughts on the petition above are most appreciated! Any!

 

[dorenephilpot]

There are some good lawyers out there who are young and hungry for business.

They'll probably be more attentive to you and charge you a lower retainer and lower hourly rate.

You can call the bar association and ask for the names of ones who just got sworn in, and you'll probably have good luck there.

Hope this helps!

 

[tekkman]

Thank you for the suggestion Dorene. Just as I was about to make the call my phone rang and I have a lawyer now who is willing to help me at a reduced rate. Still will be tough on me but better than what it could of been.

I have an appointment on Tuesday and will update as the what I find out. It appears no one is really sure on this but with over 100 views of this thread I'd say there was atleast some curiousity/interest.

Once again any thoughts/opinions/experiences are appreciated! I'm just trying to maintain some sanity till I find out more.

 

[tekkman]

update

Back with a update now that I have some understanding of all this.

Based on current incomes CS would be modified down to about $80 a week(was receiving $150). SS is now paying a total of $662 a month to my children.

In most ,if not all, cases where the person on disability also pays child support , if the amount of SS the children receive off of the claim is equal to or more than what support is set at , the NCP will be given a $1 to $1 credit. Hence not pay anything out of pocket.

On the medical coverage , obviously if she can't work it would be difficult to provide coverage. I've also learned that we qualify for whats called Hoosier Healthwise. Worst case with it I will have to pay $24 a month and then it pays pretty much 100% on everything.

This is the part I really didn't understand before but have had it explained to me now. The reason she can request , and has a strong case for it , to not pay on out of pocket medical is .... the modified support would be approx. $80 a week or $332 a month( weekly X 4.15). SS is now paying $662 a month total. Because there is such a difference ($330 a month) that gives her the case for not paying. The law basically looks at it like .... I'm getting twice as much per month as support is set so i can apply that extra towards the medical( giving her credit basically). And since we qualify for the state funded coverage (max of $24 a month out of my pocket) that gives her a even stronger case on it.

So in our case even though her SSD income is greater than my working income (bring home pay) she will not have to pay anything out of pocket.

I've been convinced enough that we are going to settle this without the hearing. We are at a verbal agreement that I will accept the terms put out. I did get her to agree to , and this is being put in the papers to be submitted, in the month of May (for summer) and in the month August(school) of each year to contribute $400 towards clothing for the kids. Those are 2 tough times for me so atleast she agreed to that.

Hope I made sense here and that is maybe helpful to someone in the future. Any thoughts still appreciated as nothing is signed yet(will be next week).