Modification Advice

[Tori's Dad]

What is the name of your state? FL

My daughter will be 5 in October. My child support was set in 2002 after a long court battle that resulted in mediation. I just received notice that my ex-girlfriend has requested a modification. I was told that I could go to the local court house and there were legal assistants who would walk me through responding to the notice. I was also told that they provided a mediation service. Would this be reasonable to try to come to an agreement over what's "fair" and realisitc vs what the state feels is appropriate. I spent over 7k on a lawyer the last time and was not pleased with the results. Has anyone had any experience with this or should I start shopping for a lawyer. I have 20 days to respond to the motion.

Any advice would be greatWhat is the name of your state?

 

[saintkbsmom67]

What is the name of your state? FL

My daughter will be 5 in October. My child support was set in 2002 after a long court battle that resulted in mediation. I just received notice that my ex-girlfriend has requested a modification. I was told that I could go to the local court house and there were legal assistants who would walk me through responding to the notice. I was also told that they provided a mediation service. Would this be reasonable to try to come to an agreement over what's "fair" and realisitc vs what the state feels is appropriate. I spent over 7k on a lawyer the last time and was not pleased with the results. Has anyone had any experience with this or should I start shopping for a lawyer. I have 20 days to respond to the motion.

Any advice would be greatWhat is the name of your state?

Normally the CP is awarded an increase in support every three years. CHildren grow, eat more, need more things...etc. Most likely she will be awarded the increase.

 

[nextwife]

Normally the CP is awarded an increase in support every three years. CHildren grow, eat more, need more things...etc. Most likely she will be awarded the increase.

Which presumes that every household INCREASES their income every three years. Actually, several of our middle aged friends(couples with children who are married to each other) are now making LESS than they were three years ago, due to middle management cuts, slashes in staffing, mergers and acquisitions, downward price pressures for their services and/or products and so on. WE don't all AUTOMATICALLY earn more every three years, even if our kids are growing. WE deal with it by spending less on other stuff for our household.

Poster, IF your income has gone up, the CS will go up proportionatly. But if it has been flat, or you are earning less, the CS may reflect that. They CAN review your income every three years.

 

[tigger22472]

To add, depending on if FL uses both parents incomes, if the CP's income has changed significantly that will make an impact too.

 

[Tori's Dad]

So I guess it's safe to assume that I shouldn't bother with retaining a lawyer or trying to reach some kind of compromise? I'm pretty much at the mercy of whatever magic number the state desides is what I now owe.

 

[Gracie3787]

What is the name of your state? FL

My daughter will be 5 in October. My child support was set in 2002 after a long court battle that resulted in mediation. I just received notice that my ex-girlfriend has requested a modification. I was told that I could go to the local court house and there were legal assistants who would walk me through responding to the notice. I was also told that they provided a mediation service. Would this be reasonable to try to come to an agreement over what's "fair" and realisitc vs what the state feels is appropriate. I spent over 7k on a lawyer the last time and was not pleased with the results. Has anyone had any experience with this or should I start shopping for a lawyer. I have 20 days to respond to the motion.

Any advice would be greatWhat is the name of your state?

You don't need an attorney. You can file everything pro-se. Go to www.flcourts.org/ to find the family law forms. They are pretty self explainatory and easy to fill out. You'll need to file and serve your ex (and DOR if they are involved) with an answer to the petition, a financial affidavit, certificate of compliance with mandatory disclosure and a CS guidelines worksheet. If you have good reasons, you can also file a motion to deviate from CS guidelines.
You can find the CS guidelines and related statutes at www.flsenate.gov/STATUTES in Chapter 61.

Some county's require mediation, some don't, but you can check on the first link to find out if your county requires it. There's alot of good self help info there.

 

[ceara19]

Normally the CP is awarded an increase in support every three years. CHildren grow, eat more, need more things...etc. Most likely she will be awarded the increase.

Actually, each party is ALLOWED to REQUEST a review of the child support every 2-3 years (depending on the state) or if there is a significant, involuntary change in the amount that IS ordered and the amount that SHOULD be paid using the state guidelines.

OP,

Gracie3787 is right, at this point, there is no reason to hire an attorney. You do need to familiarize your self with the state guidelines using the links she provided. Run the numbers yourself, then double and triple check them, and if their numbers don't match yours, contest the change.

You can "make her an offer" if you feel the guidelines are unreasonable. If she agrees, the court will, in all likelihood, sign off on the new agreement. However, she's not REQUIRED to accept or even negotiate any amount outside of the guidelines.

 

[MrsK]

Normally the CP is awarded an increase in support every three years. CHildren grow, eat more, need more things...etc. Most likely she will be awarded the increase.

Uh, no. Most states DO NOT have a "cost of living" increase for child support. It depends on if the NCP's income has increased, if (in most states) the CP's has increased, or if there are new costs, like daycare, etc.

 

[LdiJ]

So I guess it's safe to assume that I shouldn't bother with retaining a lawyer or trying to reach some kind of compromise? I'm pretty much at the mercy of whatever magic number the state desides is what I now owe.

Ceara gave you accurate advice. You can make sure that the calculation is done accurately, but that's about it unless mom is feeling particularly generous and wants to cut you a deal.

 

[Tori's Dad]

Thanks for all the responses and information.

I saw the website that had the forms and I will go down next week and file my response to contest. I took some numbers and entered them on an online calculator and came up almost $200 less than what the state is requesting. I think it might have something to do with the fact that when the original order was filed, I was single where they can request up to 65% of income and now I'm married with a child where is's up to 50%. Either way, it's still alot of $$! Would anyone know if the sale of real estate would factor into calculating support? Once I file my response, would I then be dealing direcdtly with the lawyer who represents child support or do I contact them about possible mediation? I do not have contact with the mother at this time so calling her isn't an option right now.

 

[nextwife]

Either way, it's still alot of $$! Would anyone know if the sale of real estate would factor into calculating support

AS a profession, or as to recieving proceeds from the sale of your home/investment property?

 

[nextwife]

I do not have contact with the mother at this time so calling her isn't an option right now.

Do you not have a visitaion schedule with youtr daughter? If not, get started! What are you waiting for? FILE for a visitation schedule - daughters NEED their daddys!!!!!

 

[Tori's Dad]

AS a profession, or as to recieving proceeds from the sale of your home/investment property?

A sale of a home

Do you not have a visitaion schedule with youtr daughter? If not, get started! What are you waiting for? FILE for a visitation schedule - daughters NEED their daddys!!!!!

Visitation was setup in the original mediation. Long story short, things got so bad between the girlfriend and myself with alleged alligations, that I made a decision not to have contact. I'ts not that I don't want to see my child, let's just say that the matter is complicated and leave it at that.

 

[NCP Dad in TN]

My state INCREASES child support if the non-custodial parent has LESS than the standard visitation... perhaps that is where the discrepancy lies in your calculations? Since you have NO contact with the child, and no visitation, Mom is taking care of the child more, thus she gets more child support.

Not sure if ALL states do this... but mine does...

 

[Tori's Dad]

My state INCREASES child support if the non-custodial parent has LESS than the standard visitation... perhaps that is where the discrepancy lies in your calculations? Since you have NO contact with the child, and no visitation, Mom is taking care of the child more, thus she gets more child support.

Not sure if ALL states do this... but mine does...

Let's say that I saw my daughter on Sunday for the day, I'm not sure where my not seeing her would matter economically since I'm currently paying support & medical.

I'm not sure if what you spoke about applies in my state

Thanks for your reply.