Court soon. Payment lowered?

[mandik]

What is the name of your state?Wisconsin
BF had court and requested that his payment be lowered (700). The court did not lower, but set another court date. He is paying out about 1/2 of his income before taxes, right now. He is an independent contractor, so the wages do not come out of his check.
He is a little bit behind with payments right now(about 1 1/2 months), and cannot afford to pay all of it. Is the court going to frown on him because he is not all of the way caught up? Should he take a loan to pay it and hire an attorney? Or will the judge think he has more money because he has an attorney?
We drive 3 hours one way once a month and spend 3-5 hundred on food, lodging and entertainment for 2 days. The judge would not lower it because his ex made the point that he takes them camping. We can only camp for a few months here, and most of that time is the summer spent with us. At any rate, it is still expensive to buy food, get a state park pass, pay to camp. What do we need for court? Should we try to go back and document waht we have spent? I know there are a lot of questions, but we need to be prepared.
Thanks.

 

[linm]

Your best bet is to consult with an attorney. Check with your local bar association for a referral and they'll get you a cheap initial consultation in most areas. In mine, it's only $25 for 1/2 an hour. Some will even give a consultation over the phone. You can get a very good idea from that what your chances will be in court and may decide to mediate instead.

If I were the judge, based on what you wrote, I would have several questions. For example, you live three hours away but only see the children once per month? Is the lodging and entertainment expense really necessary?Is there a reason you can't pick them up and take them to your home for the weekend? Will the ex meet you halfway? Who moved away from whom? In some states, the courts may consider travel expenses to do child exchange but sometimes it matters a lot who left the area. The children shouldn't be penalized by lowering their support if your BF decides he wants to move to Alaska and your BF shouldn't be penalized with all travel expenses because she decides she likes the weather in Florida.

I agree with the judge questioning why your BF can't pay $700 support, which is for food, clothing, a day to day place to live, heat, water, electricity, to cover an average of around 28 days per month, but somehow can afford "3-5 hundred on food, lodging and entertainment for 2 days." Can you see how that would look to someone on the outside? If the ex decides she wants to take the children to California and Disney Land once a month, should your BF's support have to go up to cover it? Or even half? Of course not.

Just something to think about. Sometimes there really is another side and it's a good idea to try to look at it. Good luck to your family.

 

[mandik]

Thanks for the reply. Actually, his guardian told him that if he moved within 150 miles, he would not rule out changing his mind. We did move within 150 miles and have not gone back to court to try to change the order yet.
I'm not sure if we are spending too much on the weekends. We pay about 40 for gas, 160 for the hotel for 2 nights and at least 100 for food. We have the pickup at 9:00am and the drop off at 5:00pm, so we have to burn several hours before and after we need to check out from the hotel. It cost us $40.00 to go to a movie. I typically pay about half of the costs for the weekend.

It is good to know how others view our situation. Maybe we will get lucky and won't have to drive there. We would definately meet them half way. We really feel that the kids would be more comfortable here instead of the hotel. They are at our home every other time. (This is the order from when their mom moved 6 hours away. We will be trying to change that soon.)