Per Diem and overtime included in Child support?

[Jasmic2143]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Texas
My husband and I just got married in November of 2009. He works out of town a lot and his ex-wife refuses to let me get the children on his designated weekends, even though we have already sent her and the court a letter designating me as a competent adult to pick up and drop off the children when applicable. He is affraid to take her to court in fear they will increase his child support. He currently makes 20 dollars an hour and overtime varies. He receives a per diem of 125 dollars per day for his travel expenses. When they were diviorced SHE presented a check stubb of his with per deim included. He is currently paying 1500 dollars a month for 2 children and an additional 328 dollars per month for insurance. I have told him that I wasn't sure about overtime, but I was pretty sure they could not include per diem in his support but he doesn't listen. When his child support was determined he was only making 12 to 14 dollars an hour. So basically now he HAS to work out of town most of the year to be able to afford his child support (I think this was her plan all along to keep him out of the picture and the man she was having an affair with in the picture, but that is my opinion and not relevant to this). We are both affraid if he continues working out of town just to provide the support, he will lose the bond with the children that is SOOOO important for a daughter and son to have with their father, which by the was IS IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE CHILD. Any advice is appreciated!!!

 

[Proserpina]

Yes, overtime and per diem income can be considered.

Mom is NOT obliged to allow you to take the kids during Dad's parenting time.

 

[Silverplum]

You are not a legal party to this matter.
Please have your H sign up to ask his own legal questions about his own legal situation.

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Texas
My husband and I just got married in November of 2009. He works out of town a lot and his ex-wife refuses to let me get the children on his designated weekends, even though we have already sent her and the court a letter designating me as a competent adult to pick up and drop off the children when applicable. He is affraid to take her to court in fear they will increase his child support. He currently makes 20 dollars an hour and overtime varies. He receives a per diem of 125 dollars per day for his travel expenses. When they were diviorced SHE presented a check stubb of his with per deim included. He is currently paying 1500 dollars a month for 2 children and an additional 328 dollars per month for insurance. I have told him that I wasn't sure about overtime, but I was pretty sure they could not include per diem in his support but he doesn't listen. When his child support was determined he was only making 12 to 14 dollars an hour. So basically now he HAS to work out of town most of the year to be able to afford his child support (I think this was her plan all along to keep him out of the picture and the man she was having an affair with in the picture, but that is my opinion and not relevant to this). We are both affraid if he continues working out of town just to provide the support, he will lose the bond with the children that is SOOOO important for a daughter and son to have with their father, which by the was IS IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE CHILD. Any advice is appreciated!!!

 

[Proserpina]

You are not a legal party to this matter.
Please have your H sign up to ask his own legal questions about his own legal situation.

That, too.

 

[Jasmic2143]

That, too.

What is the point of designating a competent adult then? His papers state that both parties must ensure that the children maintain relationships with the paternal/maternal families. 1. I AM the only person that can do this while he is out of town working. She does not make sure they see the paternal family. Also, aren't I part of that paternal family? My question was not so much directed towards the visitation issue but the amount of child support. Any input on that? The per diem is a traveling expense not income. This money is to pay for hotel, food, etc. and is not considered when filing his taxes as income.

 

[Proserpina]

What is the point of designating a competent adult then? His papers state that both parties must ensure that the children maintain relationships with the paternal/maternal families. 1. I AM the only person that can do this while he is out of town working. She does not make sure they see the paternal family. Also, aren't I part of that paternal family?

You are a legal stranger. Frankly, Dad's custody matter is between him and his ex-wife. Not you. If Dad wants things to change, Dad has to change things himself.

Now, sending a letter to the court won't do a thing unless the order is changed to reflect that...but honestly, the likelihood of Dad being able to effectively "transfer" his visitation over to you, is very slim.

My question was not so much directed towards the visitation issue but the amount of child support. Any input on that? The per diem is a traveling expense not income. This money is to pay for hotel, food, etc. and is not considered when filing his taxes as income.

No, I do understand. The general consensus (certainly here) is that it shouldn't be included - but I for one (and there are other posters who have, too) have experienced otherwise, where it HAS been included.

Overtime is, on the other hand, included. As a rule.

 

[Jasmic2143]

I am not a legal stranger. I have had my own issues in court with my daughters father. My husband is unfamiliar and is not so savvy in research which is why he has asked me to help him. Not to mention he has no internet access where he is. The intent of any letters sent to the court is strictly for the purpose of being put in the case file, not for a judge to look at and call him to see if there is anything he wants to do about it. The court order states that notifications to the other parent should be done through certified mail (the letters are him complying with the order). I also realize that if he wants something to change he has to do it himself. My purpose of visiting this forum was to simply get information on what is or is not to be included in child support as I have found mixed answers on whether or not per diem should be included in child support. Since I am on the receiving end of child support for only one child, I also wanted to figure out if assigning 1500 dollars a month in child support and an additional 328 for insurance at 12-14 dollars an hour was excessive?

 

[Isis1]

I am not a legal stranger. I have had my own issues in court with my daughters father. My husband is unfamiliar and is not so savvy in research which is why he has asked me to help him. Not to mention he has no internet access where he is. The intent of any letters sent to the court is strictly for the purpose of being put in the case file, not for a judge to look at and call him to see if there is anything he wants to do about it. The court order states that notifications to the other parent should be done through certified mail (the letters are him complying with the order). I also realize that if he wants something to change he has to do it himself. My purpose of visiting this forum was to simply get information on what is or is not to be included in child support as I have found mixed answers on whether or not per diem should be included in child support. Since I am on the receiving end of child support for only one child, I also wanted to figure out if assigning 1500 dollars a month in child support and an additional 328 for insurance at 12-14 dollars an hour was excessive?

you are a legal stranger in dad's case. that is a legal fact.

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Texas
My husband and I just got married in November of 2009. He works out of town a lot and his ex-wife refuses to let me get the children on his designated weekends, even though we have already sent her and the court a letter designating me as a competent adult to pick up and drop off the children when applicable. He is affraid to take her to court in fear they will increase his child support. He currently makes 20 dollars an hour and overtime varies. He receives a per diem of 125 dollars per day for his travel expenses. When they were diviorced SHE presented a check stubb of his with per deim included. He is currently paying 1500 dollars a month for 2 children and an additional 328 dollars per month for insurance. I have told him that I wasn't sure about overtime, but I was pretty sure they could not include per diem in his support but he doesn't listen. When his child support was determined he was only making 12 to 14 dollars an hour. So basically now he HAS to work out of town most of the year to be able to afford his child support (I think this was her plan all along to keep him out of the picture and the man she was having an affair with in the picture, but that is my opinion and not relevant to this). We are both affraid if he continues working out of town just to provide the support, he will lose the bond with the children that is SOOOO important for a daughter and son to have with their father, which by the was IS IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE CHILD. Any advice is appreciated!!!

How does spending weekends with you, when dad is not around at all, contribute to dad's bond with his children? Just because you can pick up the children on dad's behalf doesn't give you the right to exercise his visitation when he won't be present at all. Nor would you doing that do anything to increase dad's bond with his children.

Now, after saying that, I also believe that per diem should not be part of a child support calculation. Per diem is an expense calculation designed to allow an employee to cover the expenses of working out of town, while still being able to maintaining their actual home.

However, if its a 125.00 a day non-accountable plan, that means that the 125.00 a day is included in his gross income, and he gets to deduct his actual travel expenses on his own tax return. That unfortunately does make things complicated for the purposes of calculating child support. The per diem is included in his AGI and only gets dedected on Schedule A via a 2106.

Dad should get a consult with a local attorney and lay everything out, and get an opinion as to whether or not there are any viable options for him.

 

[Proserpina]

I am not a legal stranger. I have had my own issues in court with my daughters father. My husband is unfamiliar and is not so savvy in research which is why he has asked me to help him. Not to mention he has no internet access where he is. The intent of any letters sent to the court is strictly for the purpose of being put in the case file, not for a judge to look at and call him to see if there is anything he wants to do about it. The court order states that notifications to the other parent should be done through certified mail (the letters are him complying with the order). I also realize that if he wants something to change he has to do it himself. My purpose of visiting this forum was to simply get information on what is or is not to be included in child support as I have found mixed answers on whether or not per diem should be included in child support. Since I am on the receiving end of child support for only one child, I also wanted to figure out if assigning 1500 dollars a month in child support and an additional 328 for insurance at 12-14 dollars an hour was excessive?

The term "legal stranger" is not an insult, a slur, or anything else. It very simply means that you are, legally, nothing to your husband's children or to your husband's custody matters.

Please, spend some time reading past threads here. Specially the threads relating to step-parents and how easy it is to overthink and overstep the role that we (and yes, I'm a step-parent too) play.

 

[Jasmic2143]

How does spending weekends with you, when dad is not around at all, contribute to dad's bond with his children? Just because you can pick up the children on dad's behalf doesn't give you the right to exercise his visitation when he won't be present at all. Nor would you doing that do anything to increase dad's bond with his children.

Now, after saying that, I also believe that per diem should not be part of a child support calculation. Per diem is an expense calculation designed to allow an employee to cover the expenses of working out of town, while still being able to maintaining their actual home.

However, if its a 125.00 a day non-accountable plan, that means that the 125.00 a day is included in his gross income, and he gets to deduct his actual travel expenses on his own tax return. That unfortunately does make things complicated for the purposes of calculating child support. The per diem is included in his AGI and only gets dedected on Schedule A via a 2106.

Dad should get a consult with a local attorney and lay everything out, and get an opinion as to whether or not there are any viable options for him.

Maybe i was unclear before.....I stated that him being forced to work out of town to pay 1500 dollars a month in child support affects his bond with his children. I also stated that the ex does not allow ANY interaction with the paternal family (grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins) while he is away. Their order specifically states that in is in the best interest of the children that BOTH parties are to ensure relationships with paternal/maternal parents are maintained. This is where him designating as the competent adult in the exchange of the children comes in, not to contribute to his bond with them but to ensure the parental family relationship.

I am guessing the 125 dollars a day is not a non-accountable plan as his W-2 shows his gross pay as his hourly and any overtime he received.

Now that I have done some additional research beyond this post I have found he will have some argument on the inclusion of his per diem and he will definitely be hiring an attorney. Thanks for all the inputs..

 

[purplegreen]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Texas
My husband and I just got married in November of 2009. SNIP My question was not so much directed towards the visitation issue but the amount of child support. SNIP I also wanted to figure out if assigning 1500 dollars a month in child support and an additional 328 for insurance at 12-14 dollars an hour was excessive?

Wow you move quickly. It only took you 2 months of marriage to put yourself in the middle of how much financial support your husband's children need. You even admit that the post isn't about visitation but the money. Classy.

I hope your ex has just as classy of a honey to advise him on how to lower his child support obligations.

 

[AkersTile]

This does seem excessive. Going by $14/hr working 40 hrs a week and paying out $1830 in CS/ins, Dad has $600/month to live on. That's without taxes being taken out. I didn't figure in the per diem or overtime.

Isn't CS not supposed to be over a certain % of NCP's income? That's 75% of his income.

 

[Proserpina]

This does seem excessive. Going by $14/hr working 40 hrs a week and paying out $1830 in CS/ins, Dad has $600/month to live on. That's without taxes being taken out. I didn't figure in the per diem or overtime.

Isn't CS not supposed to be over a certain % of NCP's income? That's 75% of his income.

OP said he's making 20/hour...but I'm going to run the figures anyway...

He currently makes 20 dollars an hour and overtime varies

 

[AkersTile]

OP said he's making 20/hour...but I'm going to run the figures anyway...

Sorry. You're right. I missed that one with all the other numbers jumping around. LOL