Child support in MD, help please!!

[dairycowz]

What is the name of your state? Maryland

Here is my predicament...My ex is military and when we were divorced, our separation, which sets out our child support was in Kentucky(2001). However, we have both moved since, he is in NY and I am in MD (current husband is military also). In the separation agreement we agreed to $250/month, since in KY, this paid for my daycare and that was sufficient at the time. When we moved to MD, he increased it to $600 since the cost of living is significantly higher and the child's needs are obviously growing. So for the last 2 years he has voluntarily paid the higher amount. This was not a problem until he recently informed me that he is getting out of the military and may not be able to pay me for a few months when he gets out.

So, now that we are in MD, and have been for 3 years, I decided to get the case transferred to MD, so that I can then get a new order so when he gets out, he doesn't decide, "well, legally I only have to pay you 250" So, I did an application to the state and I understood they would review the case and take the necessary actions. However, he calls me yesterday after receiving a letter from MD stating that he is to now send his payments to MD, and they are 250. So, what am I to do now?? I wrote a letter yesterday to the dept of social services and faxed it to their office. From what I understand you can request a periodic review of your case, every 3 years...but here is my question..

It has been 3 years, but MD is not the original state....so will MD modify it, or will I have to go back to KY (which obviously wont' happen)

then, there's the problem of him paying me by allottment right now. It takes 2 months to stop the allottment, so what is he supposed to do now that MD wants the money through them?

HELP!!

 

[stealth2]

Interesting how you weren't too bothered about modifying things while he was voluntarily paying significantly more than ordered. You can request a review in MD, but you may not get an increase - and I certainly wouldn't expect that you're going to get more than twice the original order. Do YOU work?

 

[dairycowz]

interesting?

Well, I wasn't worried about it because he pays it directly to me by allottment. However, now that he will be getting out of the military, the only thing he "legally" will have to pay is the 250...as long as he paid by allottment, it wasn't a problem, since he would obviously be paying on time every time. I just want to get an order in place so he can't say he doesn't have to pay the higher anymore. Oh, forgot to include the fact that he stated "I may not be able to pay you for a while after I get out". We have both moved to high cost of living areas, and 250 doesn't even begin to cover a month's worth of daycare, let alone clothing, food, housing, etc. That is why he agreed to the higher amount, plus neither of us were really in a position to hire an attorney at the time we agreed to it.

And yes, I do work and yes, it is full time.

But, here is a bit of an update.....since writing a letter to the state yesterday, they called me today and told me what to do. I simply write a notarized letter to the Dept. of Human Services and they will review the income, etc. to determine the updated amount.

Forgot one point....the ORDERED amount...was not really set by the court, it was what we agreed to in our Sep. Agreement, when we lived in very low cost of living areas, where the amount was feasbile.

 

[Silverplum]

"Forgot one point....the ORDERED amount...was not really set by the court, it was what we agreed to in our Sep. Agreement, when we lived in very low cost of living areas, where the amount was feasbile."

That doesn't matter, legally. What matters is that you agreed, the court order was set. If you want it changed, you have to go out and change it.

Furthermore, Maryland uses a shared income model to calculate support, so your income gets counted as well as his.
http://ocse3.acf.dhhs.gov/ext/irg/sps/report.cfm?State=MD

 

[dairycowz]

ok...not sure

Ok, I know all that...I'm just wondering what advice anyone has on what steps to take....or if in fact Maryland will do anything ... I already knew about the shared income...in fact according to the guidelines he should paying somewhere in the ballpark of 850 a month

There's no dispute over what was ordered...I was making that point to the reply before that tried to say I didn't care about an order in place when he initially agreed to an amount higher.

 

[Silverplum]

What you need to do is look up MD CS guidelines and info and read up on your situation. Be proactive.

 

[dairycowz]

already read

Yeah I already read them, but they dont specify about out of state orders...that's why I'm here...I used to be a legal secretary, so I know most of how maryland works..but I was just posting here to get some extra feedback....I'm being plenty proactive trust me....I'm trying what the state suggested I do and write the letter to DSS requesting a review...so then we'll see what happens.

 

[Silverplum]

I don't mean read just the link I gave you. I mean do a lot of work and a lot of searching and a lot of reading. I'm not a lawyer licensed in MD, and I don't think one follows this board. You need to do your homework.