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support hearing

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What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? oregon

I have a hearing again next week for support decision in pending divorce. She originaly last February decided she didn't want support, just medical coverage, the support would knock down her Social Security Disability moneys that she recieves. That made the divorce an arbitration proceedings and moved it out of court.
In July her attorney called for a hearing then for support, moving the divorce back to court, but she decided in the court room that she didn't want it because of the loss of the SSI moneys. The Judge moved it back to arbitration and told her side that this should be worked out using our attorneys. I have a stack of settlement offers numbering dozens that they have never replied fully to. I proposed selling the property in risk of foreclosure last March.

Once again her attorney has moved it to court and a support hearing.

She is also wanting to have me pay a mortgage that I can't afford. I currently pay the mortgage on the primary residence that I live in , she was asked to move out via retraining order due to domestic violence, she then moved in with her mother. She payed the disputed mortgage until last month and now refuses to pay it.

She wants 1100 dollars pr month for the mortgage payment.
She wants 1500 dollars a month for support
She wants an immediate 5,000 dollar payment to pay a credit card bill that was in our names and charges made before divorce filing.
We had always filed joint returns for years and structured payroll deductions accordingly. She filed married seperate on tax returns potentialy dis-allowing me deductions and left me with what looks to be a 4700 dollar tax debt.

I make close to 4,000 per month but after paying her insurance through payroll deduction , taxes and loan on a 401k, I bring home only 2,000.

She works part time and with the SSI makes about the same (2000) clear.

Her Uniform Support Affidavit is based on hypothetical expenses (ie: she writes: " This is what my expenses would be if I had to live on my own")



Anyone want to take a fair guess of whart the judge might do this time around?
 


mistoffolees

Senior Member
Are you talking about child support or spousal support? If the latter, how long have you been married?

If it's child support, there are calculators available online for most states. You put in your income, her income, number of nights the child(ren) spend at each house, and a few other things and it calculates a recommendation.

Spousal support is pretty much up to the judge's discretion in most states. First, if you haven't been married > 10 years, spousal support is unlikely (except in CA and maybe one or two other states). Check on your state laws (try http://www.stahancyk.com/faq/spousal_support.cfm or Divorce Support - Oregon Spousal Support/Maintenance/Alimony Factors or Divorce in Oregon for starters). Oddly, I don't see the 10 year requirement in OR, although I may have missed it.

There's another oddity in OR law. If spousal support is not requested at the initial hearing, it can not be added later. If she did not request it at the initial hearing, your attorney may be able to get it dismissed at this point.

If you've been married long enough for spousal support to be an issue, they will consider a large number of items such as those listed in the above links. In VERY general terms, though, if the two parties have similar incomes, spousal support is unlikely. I don't know how they'll treat debt repayment or 401K contributions, though.

Her demands sound pretty high, but that's par for the course. You should have an attorney to help with these issues.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? oregon

I have a hearing again next week for support decision in pending divorce. She originaly last February decided she didn't want support, just medical coverage, the support would knock down her Social Security Disability moneys that she recieves. That made the divorce an arbitration proceedings and moved it out of court.
In July her attorney called for a hearing then for support, moving the divorce back to court, but she decided in the court room that she didn't want it because of the loss of the SSI moneys. The Judge moved it back to arbitration and told her side that this should be worked out using our attorneys. I have a stack of settlement offers numbering dozens that they have never replied fully to. I proposed selling the property in risk of foreclosure last March.

Once again her attorney has moved it to court and a support hearing.

She is also wanting to have me pay a mortgage that I can't afford. I currently pay the mortgage on the primary residence that I live in , she was asked to move out via retraining order due to domestic violence, she then moved in with her mother. She payed the disputed mortgage until last month and now refuses to pay it.

She wants 1100 dollars pr month for the mortgage payment.
She wants 1500 dollars a month for support
She wants an immediate 5,000 dollar payment to pay a credit card bill that was in our names and charges made before divorce filing.
We had always filed joint returns for years and structured payroll deductions accordingly. She filed married seperate on tax returns potentialy dis-allowing me deductions and left me with what looks to be a 4700 dollar tax debt.

I make close to 4,000 per month but after paying her insurance through payroll deduction , taxes and loan on a 401k, I bring home only 2,000.

She works part time and with the SSI makes about the same (2000) clear.

Her Uniform Support Affidavit is based on hypothetical expenses (ie: she writes: " This is what my expenses would be if I had to live on my own")



Anyone want to take a fair guess of whart the judge might do this time around?
Well, she won't get what she is asking for because it would be more than 50% of your gross income. A judge would never order that.

However, if you are grossing 4k and only taking home 2k, something is off there. Even with insurance and a 401k loan repayment your take home should not be 50% of your net, and you definitely shouldn't owe 4700.00 in tax, even on a married filing separately basis.
Your total federal tax liability would be only about 7200.00 so that means you only had about 2500.00 withheld for the whole year, therefore your numbers simply don't add up.
 
Well, she won't get what she is asking for because it would be more than 50% of your gross income. A judge would never order that.

However, if you are grossing 4k and only taking home 2k, something is off there. Even with insurance and a 401k loan repayment your take home should not be 50% of your net, and you definitely shouldn't owe 4700.00 in tax, even on a married filing separately basis.
Your total federal tax liability would be only about 7200.00 so that means you only had about 2500.00 withheld for the whole year, therefore your numbers simply don't add up.
In 2007 I claimed married and 2 dependents. consequently when she filed seperate it dis-allows me the standard deduction. I am claiming single and 0 dependents currently as I had entered 2007 without knowing what she did until April when the bookkeeper she had already filed in Jan. I was blindsided and promptly changed my withholdings to recover for the rest of this tax year.
My bi weekly is 1896 x 2.17 = 4114
my take home is 1096 2.17= 2378 which is 57 % of gross. the insurances include medical an cafeteria set aside.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
In 2007 I claimed married and 2 dependents. consequently when she filed seperate it dis-allows me the standard deduction. I am claiming single and 0 dependents currently as I had entered 2007 without knowing what she did until April when the bookkeeper she had already filed in Jan. I was blindsided and promptly changed my withholdings to recover for the rest of this tax year.
My bi weekly is 1896 x 2.17 = 4114
my take home is 1096 2.17= 2378 which is 57 % of gross. the insurances include medical an cafeteria set aside.
1896 x 26 pay periods is 49296
Married with 2 exemptions withholding is 167 x 26 is 4342
Taxable income would be 49296 - 3500 (personal exemption) - at least 2000.00 in itemized deductions = 43796
Tax on 43796, married filing separately would be 7375.00 minus the 4342 you had withheld would be 3033.00 which is quite a bit lower than 4700

Plus, you state that you are/were paying a mortgage, and therefore property taxes, therefore you can definitely itemize significantly more than 2k. Therefore your taxes should have been 1k or more less than that. When married filing separately you either both must itemize or you both must take the standard deduction. Since you obviously can itemize that forces her to itemize as well. If your itemized expenses are less than the standard deduction, then you can take the standard deduction, since I doubt she would voluntarily itemize on part time pay.

Bottom line, is that if you owe more than 2k, I would really be surprized, and there is no possible way you could owe 4700.00, even if some penalities and interest got thrown in because you filed late.

I am a tax professional, and as I said, your numbers don't match up. If you did your own taxes, I would suggest that you consult a tax professional about an amendment.
 
I filed according to what the tax advocates told me to do. She took all of the interest deductions on both mortgages in her filing so I supposedly am not able to claim them. However her income couldn't possibly have payed all of the mortgages, so the advocates believe there will be a possibility i can claim some of the deductions.
The tax issue is realy a small thing here considering her stubborness and refusing to co-operate for the last 11 months has resulted in her now deciding not to pay the mortgage payment, I can't possibly do it. Our budget was based on dual income. So that means about 50k in equity stands to be lost in a foreclosure since the payments are now late for one defered month of September that the bank says goes to the back of the loan , one payment missed in October and another this month. The time is running out. The propertys needed to be listed last spring and possibly could have been sold then.



This is a case of not enough money and the legal fees are eating up all assets.
 

Gracie3787

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? oregon

I have a hearing again next week for support decision in pending divorce. She originaly last February decided she didn't want support, just medical coverage, the support would knock down her Social Security Disability moneys that she recieves. That made the divorce an arbitration proceedings and moved it out of court.
In July her attorney called for a hearing then for support, moving the divorce back to court, but she decided in the court room that she didn't want it because of the loss of the SSI moneys. The Judge moved it back to arbitration and told her side that this should be worked out using our attorneys. I have a stack of settlement offers numbering dozens that they have never replied fully to. I proposed selling the property in risk of foreclosure last March.

Once again her attorney has moved it to court and a support hearing.

She is also wanting to have me pay a mortgage that I can't afford. I currently pay the mortgage on the primary residence that I live in , she was asked to move out via retraining order due to domestic violence, she then moved in with her mother. She payed the disputed mortgage until last month and now refuses to pay it.

She wants 1100 dollars pr month for the mortgage payment.
She wants 1500 dollars a month for support
She wants an immediate 5,000 dollar payment to pay a credit card bill that was in our names and charges made before divorce filing.
We had always filed joint returns for years and structured payroll deductions accordingly. She filed married seperate on tax returns potentialy dis-allowing me deductions and left me with what looks to be a 4700 dollar tax debt.

I make close to 4,000 per month but after paying her insurance through payroll deduction , taxes and loan on a 401k, I bring home only 2,000.

She works part time and with the SSI makes about the same (2000) clear.

Her Uniform Support Affidavit is based on hypothetical expenses (ie: she writes: " This is what my expenses would be if I had to live on my own")



Anyone want to take a fair guess of whart the judge might do this time around?
Her own earned income and any support she recieves from you will reduce her SSI. It sounds like she isn't notifying SSA of her income. The max this year for SSI has been $657.00. Do you know how much SSI she is recieving each month?
 
according to her Support affidavit she recieves about 900 dollars a month and can earn up to that much before it is reduced. I am not 100 percent positive on this, kinda going by what she says. I have seen her tax return and it worked out to something just under 900 a month is what I base this on.
She works no more than 20 hours a week and earns 10 per hour. This was her arrangement to keep her SS money from being diminished.
 

Bali Hai

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? oregon

I have a hearing again next week for support decision in pending divorce. She originaly last February decided she didn't want support, just medical coverage, the support would knock down her Social Security Disability moneys that she recieves. That made the divorce an arbitration proceedings and moved it out of court.
In July her attorney called for a hearing then for support, moving the divorce back to court, but she decided in the court room that she didn't want it because of the loss of the SSI moneys. The Judge moved it back to arbitration and told her side that this should be worked out using our attorneys. I have a stack of settlement offers numbering dozens that they have never replied fully to. I proposed selling the property in risk of foreclosure last March.

Once again her attorney has moved it to court and a support hearing.

She is also wanting to have me pay a mortgage that I can't afford. I currently pay the mortgage on the primary residence that I live in , she was asked to move out via retraining order due to domestic violence, she then moved in with her mother. She payed the disputed mortgage until last month and now refuses to pay it.

She wants 1100 dollars pr month for the mortgage payment.
She wants 1500 dollars a month for support
She wants an immediate 5,000 dollar payment to pay a credit card bill that was in our names and charges made before divorce filing.
We had always filed joint returns for years and structured payroll deductions accordingly. She filed married seperate on tax returns potentialy dis-allowing me deductions and left me with what looks to be a 4700 dollar tax debt.

I make close to 4,000 per month but after paying her insurance through payroll deduction , taxes and loan on a 401k, I bring home only 2,000.

She works part time and with the SSI makes about the same (2000) clear.

Her Uniform Support Affidavit is based on hypothetical expenses (ie: she writes: " This is what my expenses would be if I had to live on my own")



Anyone want to take a fair guess of whart the judge might do this time around?
Not sure about this time around, but when the divorce is final, you will have a different posture as you walk.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
I filed according to what the tax advocates told me to do. She took all of the interest deductions on both mortgages in her filing so I supposedly am not able to claim them. However her income couldn't possibly have payed all of the mortgages, so the advocates believe there will be a possibility i can claim some of the deductions.
Wrong, just because she inaccurately claimed deductions she was not entitled to claim does not mean that you cannot make an accurate claim.

The tax issue is realy a small thing here considering her stubborness and refusing to co-operate for the last 11 months has resulted in her now deciding not to pay the mortgage payment, I can't possibly do it. Our budget was based on dual income. So that means about 50k in equity stands to be lost in a foreclosure since the payments are now late for one defered month of September that the bank says goes to the back of the loan , one payment missed in October and another this month. The time is running out. The propertys needed to be listed last spring and possibly could have been sold then.
For goodness sake get them listed now. Don't just give up and allow one or both of them to go into foreclosure if you can get them on the market. The bank would much rather see them sold as well.

Also, the tax issue is more significant than you think.



This is a case of not enough money and the legal fees are eating up all assets.
 
for whatever reason, whenever the proposal of listing both of these propertys for sale comes up in a letter to offer settlement ( I have copys of 17 of them in the last 10 months from my attorney to hers) there is no response , or the response brings up some other stupid issue ie: she wants re-imbursed for an electric bill from 07 that she wrote a check for while SHE LIVED HERE!!!!! It came from our joint checking account! She wants re-imbursed 53.00 dollars for chicken feed that was charged onto her account for the last month she lived here. I always picked up the feed there for many years. I quit buying it there after that last month she was here since her friends own it and started a vendeta against me.
She is totaly un reasonable to compromise or settle on anything ( go figure huh?, that's why I filed in the first place!!)

I think this could be a case of total loss******************************************...but like they say : " Cut your losses while you can!" :cool:
 

mistoffolees

Senior Member
At some point, you have to decide the the cost of fighting is greater than anything you will receive. At that point, you have two choices:

1. Accept her offer

or

2. Give it to the judge "your honor, we've tried to settle matters and are unable to do so, so I would like for you to made a decision on which assets and debts go to each party.

No one's forcing you to pound your head against the wall.
 
At some point, you have to decide the the cost of fighting is greater than anything you will receive. At that point, you have two choices:

1. Accept her offer

or

2. Give it to the judge "your honor, we've tried to settle matters and are unable to do so, so I would like for you to made a decision on which assets and debts go to each party.

No one's forcing you to pound your head against the wall.
I have accepted her offer time again and again.
she wanted medical Cobra**************.....I agreed
she wanted money for a settlement on vehicles.I agreed
I offered half of my 401k
I propose we sell propertys and split assets**********************************************************************************************************************************************************..she doesn't respond.





The trial is in January of 09********************************************************....foreclosure is within that same time period. I believe her stubbornness is taking it's toll.
 

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