Child Support

[lawrence]

My ex-girlfriend moved to Delaware in 1997 with our daughter, now 5. When I fell behind in Child Support payments last year, she filed for wage assignment which I'm waiting on.
She makes 26,500 a year, and is remarried and has had another child.
I am a contractor, making $50 an hour,no benefits, based on a 40 hour week in California (approx $100,000 a year).
Question: Can I expect to pay about 25% of my take home pay, which would pay her $1200 a month? I know that one's 'station in life' is considered in the guidelines, but I would essentially be paying her mortgage and utilities, car payment, and food for her entire family - would this be a reasonable expectation from the court? Seems pretty excessive...

Thanks!

 

[lillian]

Larry, 100k a year and you've been denying your child basic support. That is shameful. $1200 a month gets your child out of poverty. (I don't know that its actual "poverty", but 26/yr with 2 kids doesn't sound good) It sounds like you are so afraid that mom or this other kid might benifit from your kid's support money that you would rather see your child go without your support. Don't you know that the better off your child's living environment is, the better off he is? I know a lot of dads get to pay less, but you are supposed to want to give your child all you can so I think its sad that you find the prospect of improving your child's situation that disturbing.

 

[lawrence]

Re., denying - the court ORDERS the non-custodial person to stop sending payments awaiting a hearing - my child has not been denied child support besides the time that the court ordered me to halt pending that hearing.

Re., poverty, I indicated that the mother has remarried, her husband works at a good salary, they own their own home, 2-3 year old vehicles, etc., etc. No poverty here.
They have a very comfortable living, and no, I do not want to deny my daughter anything, and in fact, want the best for her, of course.

In that vein, I believe the amount is excessive, UNLESS a portion of that amount were to be placed in some sort of Trust Fund.

 

[ace-red]

I am a single mom of one. My x pays 200 a month, no I didn't forget the extra 0. As much as I would love to nail you to a wall about the amount, I can't. You are absolutly right. Maybe 600 into a college fund and 600 into the mom's pocket. If my x made any money at all, I probably would safely say split it into a fund and send me a check for the rest...

 

[usdeeper]

I think you could be looking more at the high 900's than 1200. You can advise the judge you wish to divert some of that into a college or trust fund. Check this site out, it is one of the better calculators,
http://www.uschildsupport.com/


Also, make sure you specify that you are a contractor and your next contract may only be $40 .. or even less. You have to be careful to ensure that this hearing does not believe you will always get this amount and that in the future, it may not be your fault that you can not substain that amount. Generally, a court does not accept if in the future you take a less paying job that the CS should be amended as they believe it is your choice to be paid less. Being a contractor myself, I know this not to be the case.

 

[lawrence]

Thanks AceRed - a lot of good information, including the calculator.

One last thing; while I can sympathize with those mothers/fathers that receive no CS, and think that the mothers/fathers of those children who flat out refuse should be forced to take on their responsibility, I find it quite interesting that the guidelines for CS are 'calculated', and individual circumstances are largely ignored, including:
Cost of living: a higher salary suggests a higher standard of living, but depending upon the locale, the cost of basic living expenses - rent, food, etc., can easily level a lot of that difference.
Debts: again, locales can dictate different debt loads, e.g., a car payment in California vs. Taxi expenses in New York.
Standard of Living: the CS guidelines state that the 'station' one is in should be shared to elevate the child to that level, and that is fine, except to the extent that that level may already exist because of other circumstances (e.g., spousal income - or lack of in the obligor's case). A seemingly high standard of living, or 'station' cannot be assumed based on salary alone.

I'm sure I'll get nailed by some on these comments, but it just seems to me that the child's best interest is decided primarily on $$, and not on what is the best situation for the child. I'm in a fortunate position at the moment, and am more than glad that my child will (hopefully) have a better life because of it, but I look at other fathers struggling through the CS court process, and I think that perhaps these laws/guidelines should be re-visited to determine whether they are assisting in, or in fact, denegrating the child-parent relationship.

Thanks everyone for their comments and help.

 

[MySonsMom]

USDeeper: Do you have a link for the child support calculations for Iowa??? I've missed you usdeeper..

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**MySonsMom**
~There is no love like the unconditional love of a Mother~