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Child Support in NJ

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haypaul

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? New Jersey

Brief history: I've been divorced almost 4 years. At the time we used a mediator. My visitation with my 2 children (boy now 10 and girl 8) is monday nights for 3 hours, every friday overnight and every other weekend. My X is very bitter, she was supposed to supply clothes for my weekends however, never gave me enough, if they got dirty they would just have to leave the dirty clothes on. So 2 years ago I told her stop packing a bag I will buy my own clothes for my house. It was ordered that my support would cover all sports, extra curricular activities etc. However, for the past 1 I've paid and extra $60 a month for my son's piano and 1/2 of all sports, I purchase birthday gifts for friends partys for my children, we split this yearly. And they are on my insurance which costs me $100 a month. I was informed that this was called double-dipping. However, I have done this in hopes that my X would eventually give me more time with my children however the bitter X will not grant me any additional time than what the papers state. During summer/spring/winter break I always requested to have extra time at least to make the monday night visit a sleep over since there is no school and I'm always denied and my children always go to their grandparents instead. In spite of her I've still given the extra money for my children.

Of course, I feel she is going to take me back for more support. What are the laws in NJ, are lawyers involved or not for increase in support? Would the courts consider all of the extra I've done financially? How would it look at this point if I was to cancel paying for any of the extra curricular activities? Also, will they take into consideration that I would love to have my kids more however am never granted this request. Does NJ take into consideration overtime or just base pay?
 


LdiJ

Senior Member
haypaul said:
What is the name of your state? New Jersey

Brief history: I've been divorced almost 4 years. At the time we used a mediator. My visitation with my 2 children (boy now 10 and girl 8) is monday nights for 3 hours, every friday overnight and every other weekend. My X is very bitter, she was supposed to supply clothes for my weekends however, never gave me enough, if they got dirty they would just have to leave the dirty clothes on. So 2 years ago I told her stop packing a bag I will buy my own clothes for my house. It was ordered that my support would cover all sports, extra curricular activities etc. However, for the past 1 I've paid and extra $60 a month for my son's piano and 1/2 of all sports, I purchase birthday gifts for friends partys for my children, we split this yearly. And they are on my insurance which costs me $100 a month. I was informed that this was called double-dipping. However, I have done this in hopes that my X would eventually give me more time with my children however the bitter X will not grant me any additional time than what the papers state. During summer/spring/winter break I always requested to have extra time at least to make the monday night visit a sleep over since there is no school and I'm always denied and my children always go to their grandparents instead. In spite of her I've still given the extra money for my children.

Of course, I feel she is going to take me back for more support. What are the laws in NJ, are lawyers involved or not for increase in support? Would the courts consider all of the extra I've done financially? How would it look at this point if I was to cancel paying for any of the extra curricular activities? Also, will they take into consideration that I would love to have my kids more however am never granted this request. Does NJ take into consideration overtime or just base pay?
First, its normal that you would be paying medical insurance...that isn't "double dipping" unless the original calculation was made with mom being responsible for medical insurance. If your court orders specifically state that your child support is supposed to cover all extra-curricular activities then you aren't required to pay for any extra-curricular activities.

If your income has has increased in the last 4 years then its likely that your child support would also increase. It all depends on whether or not your CS was calculated based on the guidelines in the beginning. However when its recalculated things like the health insurance etc. would all be part of the calculation. Extra curricular activities normally don't factor into a child support calculation, so its pretty normal for parents to share those.

You can also go back to court and ask for visitation to be modified. However, if that happens you may lose your every Friday night (because its generally considered to be more fair for each parent to get full weekends every other weekend)....but you may be able to gain more time during the week.

Keep one thing in mind...every other weekend (Friday - Sunday) and two evenings a week is basically 1/2 of the children's non-school, non-asleep time.

With the extra Friday overnights that you currently get on mom's weekend, you are only two evenings a month shy of that now. What you may want to focus on is a modification to give you more of the children's school holiday time.

Also...right now you are getting all but two of the weekend overnights a month with the kids. Therefore its not very surprizing that their grandparents want time with them on school holidays. Its basically the only time open to them.
 
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stealth2

Under the Radar Member
Check to see if your County offers Early Settlement Panels (ESPs) for support modifications. You'll go to court, be assigned an attorney/mediator who is experienced in Family Court and support issues (and is volunteering his/her time), and then the three of you will sit down. The panelist will ask you both numerous questions and then give you an idea of what a court is likely to order based on the current info. You can either agree to it, or take it to trial. It's worth a try.
 

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