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Case Study

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JesB

Member
I am doing a case study for one of my classes. I am studying paralegal. Here is the case, I am wondering the best way to approach it.

Mark, the father of 2 children pays $1,000 a month in child support to Ann. Mark works construction and is laid off from November to April of every year. Mark would like lay-off to be presented to the court and calculated in as a yearly income. For example, if Mark makes $5,000 a month but makes $0 from November to April how would be the best way to add that into a yearly calculation? Describe how this would have to be presented to the court. Mark has joint custody of the children with 50/50 visitation.

Using the above case study, describe the best way to approach the following situation:

Mark has been remarried for about 3 years. Shortly after he is laid off his wife, Jill comes down with a life or death illness. She must seek immediate treatment which will result in thousands of doctor’s bills a month. Because of her illness she will be unable to work. The doctors estimate her recovery time to be roughly 6 months. Mark and Jill have roughly $7,000 in savings but after 2 months that has been exhausted. Mark wants to know if he can have the child support stopped for the duration of her treatment so that his wife can receive the treatment that she requires.

I say no to the last one and that the CS cannot be changed but I don’t know about the first one.
 


irish933

Junior Member
If Mark is laid off from November til April then his tax returns would reflect that time off,(no pay, unless he collects unemployment during this time) therefore, CS must have been calculated with that as a factor, I would presume. I'm no lawyer but it is common sense that your tax returns show what you made.

Good luck with your paper!
 

bononos

Senior Member
JesB said:
I am doing a case study for one of my classes. I am studying paralegal. Here is the case, I am wondering the best way to approach it.

Mark, the father of 2 children pays $1,000 a month in child support to Ann. Mark works construction and is laid off from November to April of every year. Mark would like lay-off to be presented to the court and calculated in as a yearly income. For example, if Mark makes $5,000 a month but makes $0 from November to April how would be the best way to add that into a yearly calculation? Describe how this would have to be presented to the court. Mark has joint custody of the children with 50/50 visitation.

Using the above case study, describe the best way to approach the following situation:

Mark has been remarried for about 3 years. Shortly after he is laid off his wife, Jill comes down with a life or death illness. She must seek immediate treatment which will result in thousands of doctor’s bills a month. Because of her illness she will be unable to work. The doctors estimate her recovery time to be roughly 6 months. Mark and Jill have roughly $7,000 in savings but after 2 months that has been exhausted. Mark wants to know if he can have the child support stopped for the duration of her treatment so that his wife can receive the treatment that she requires.

I say no to the last one and that the CS cannot be changed but I don’t know about the first one.

The name of the state is useful.
Support cannot be calculated without knowing which state guidelines to follow.
 

JesB

Member
bononos said:
The name of the state is useful.
Support cannot be calculated without knowing which state guidelines to follow.
I looked up the question and it doesn't mention anything about the state but I think most people are doing them just based on the state that they live in. With that being said I live in Illinois.
 

fairisfair

Senior Member
Why doesn't "Mark" just make it easier for all of us, and get another job for those 4 months?
this sounds more like somebody's home life, not homework!
 

Gracie3787

Senior Member
JesB said:
I am doing a case study for one of my classes. I am studying paralegal. Here is the case, I am wondering the best way to approach it.

Mark, the father of 2 children pays $1,000 a month in child support to Ann. Mark works construction and is laid off from November to April of every year. Mark would like lay-off to be presented to the court and calculated in as a yearly income. For example, if Mark makes $5,000 a month but makes $0 from November to April how would be the best way to add that into a yearly calculation? Describe how this would have to be presented to the court. Mark has joint custody of the children with 50/50 visitation.

Using the above case study, describe the best way to approach the following situation:

Mark has been remarried for about 3 years. Shortly after he is laid off his wife, Jill comes down with a life or death illness. She must seek immediate treatment which will result in thousands of doctor’s bills a month. Because of her illness she will be unable to work. The doctors estimate her recovery time to be roughly 6 months. Mark and Jill have roughly $7,000 in savings but after 2 months that has been exhausted. Mark wants to know if he can have the child support stopped for the duration of her treatment so that his wife can receive the treatment that she requires.

I say no to the last one and that the CS cannot be changed but I don’t know about the first one.
You are correct on the last one- it's similar to the court not being able to use a NCP's spouse's income to determine CS. The spouse's income or lack thereof has no legal bearing on Mark paying CS. Of course, there are always exceptions to the rules, so you should check out your stat'es case law for a similar situation.

The first situation- the best way to find out what the best thing to do is to first check your state's CS statutes and guidelines to see if they specifically state how that type of income is figured. Also check case law- basically Mark's income situation is similar to a school teacher's (only work part of the year) so see what case law shows for teachers and other non year round incomes.
 

JesB

Member
Ohiogal said:
Since when do we do people's homework for them?:eek:
I don't know, it was just a question. I think that it should be calculated throughout the year. P.S. construction is usually a union job and I think with some unions you actually lose your benefits if you go to another union and a lot of jobs are union. Yeah he should probably get a second job in my opinion but if I put something stupid like that then I would get a big fat F. :eek:
 

ceara19

Senior Member
JesB said:
I don't know, it was just a question. I think that it should be calculated throughout the year. P.S. construction is usually a union job and I think with some unions you actually lose your benefits if you go to another union and a lot of jobs are union. Yeah he should probably get a second job in my opinion but if I put something stupid like that then I would get a big fat F. :eek:
When you get caught cheating (having someone else do your homework), you're going to get an F anyway, so what's it matter how you answer it.
 

fairisfair

Senior Member
JesB said:
I don't know, it was just a question. I think that it should be calculated throughout the year. P.S. construction is usually a union job and I think with some unions you actually lose your benefits if you go to another union and a lot of jobs are union. Yeah he should probably get a second job in my opinion but if I put something stupid like that then I would get a big fat F. :eek:
If Mark is union, then he could take a traveler in a nice sunny state. Or, he could take a job in another industry during the 4 months that he is not working. This is a bad Mark, for which you are sure to get a bad mark (F):p
 

ceara19

Senior Member
JesB said:
I don't know, it was just a question. I think that it should be calculated throughout the year. P.S. construction is usually a union job and I think with some unions you actually lose your benefits if you go to another union and a lot of jobs are union. Yeah he should probably get a second job in my opinion but if I put something stupid like that then I would get a big fat F. :eek:
I'll give you ONE little hint to help with your homework.

You NEVER assume information that is NOT included in the question. You cannot base your answer on the ASSUMTION that he may possibly be in a union. You can only consider the factors that you are actually given.
 

fairisfair

Senior Member
ceara19 said:
I'll give you ONE little hint to help with your homework.

You NEVER assume information that is NOT included in the question. You cannot base your answer on the ASSUMTION that he may possibly be in a union. You can only consider the factors that you are actually given.
all the hmmmm. oh yeah, it's my home state, what another job, oh yeah he's union, makes me think next it will be oh yeah, he's my boyfriend.
 

JesB

Member
fairisfair said:
all the hmmmm. oh yeah, it's my home state, what another job, oh yeah he's union, makes me think next it will be oh yeah, he's my boyfriend.
Uh no I'm married and in good health. Anyways thanks for the input. I think I am going to go with my first idea and split it up over the year. As for the second part I don't think that Mark can get a deduction but I added in that when he goes to court that it would still be wise to bring copies of the medical bills to show his financial hardship. I put that it was important to explain to the client that he cannot get any type of credit for this though but at least presenting his case to the court will at least establish the problem. I recommended that Mark makes what payments that he can to keep as current as he could keep. I also included the paperwork required for the proper modification.

Oh and the reason that the question is left without all of the details is to keep it open to interpretation. The teacher does not want every person in the class giving the same answers and leaving out some details allows you to answer it in different ways. If you feel that something needs to be answered by the client then you put in your response what questions you would also need to ask your client based on what you know already. No lawyer will get all of the answers that they need right up front. They formulate a response and find out any other information that they may need from their client. It is not that you are supposed to give a direct answer, it is that you are supposed to answer the question based on what you know. I'm not going to school to be a lawyer, this is just paralegal.
 

ceara19

Senior Member
JesB said:
Uh no I'm married and in good health. Anyways thanks for the input. I think I am going to go with my first idea and split it up over the year. As for the second part I don't think that Mark can get a deduction but I added in that when he goes to court that it would still be wise to bring copies of the medical bills to show his financial hardship. I put that it was important to explain to the client that he cannot get any type of credit for this though but at least presenting his case to the court will at least establish the problem. I recommended that Mark makes what payments that he can to keep as current as he could keep. I also included the paperwork required for the proper modification.

Oh and the reason that the question is left without all of the details is to keep it open to interpretation. The teacher does not want every person in the class giving the same answers and leaving out some details allows you to answer it in different ways. If you feel that something needs to be answered by the client then you put in your response what questions you would also need to ask your client based on what you know already. No lawyer will get all of the answers that they need right up front. They formulate a response and find out any other information that they may need from their client. It is not that you are supposed to give a direct answer, it is that you are supposed to answer the question based on what you know. I'm not going to school to be a lawyer, this is just paralegal.
When you get the paper back, let us know what your grade is. You're on the right track though. I know the answer that applies in both hypothetical cases and REAL cases (which many times are different) because my ex is in somewhat the same situation. He earns most of his money about 9 months out of the year. ;)
 
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