poverty stricken

Problem in Pennsylvania. Went to child support hearing the other day and my husband got slammed with a WEEKLY payment of $170. His only income right now is about $700 / month from disability insurance. They took this income and added a $20K car insurance settlement that he received earlier this year AND added an "earning capacity" of $425 / week and came up with this figure. The settlement money has unfortunately already been spent on bills and regular living expenses over the past 3 months while he's been out of work, and so far he's had no luck getting a job in his field due to his decreased capacity (Herniated disc). There was no consideration given for these circumstances. Pay or go to jail. Sell your house, sell everything - just pay! Can anybody out there help???

Im afraid all you can do is get a lawyer. The states dont care about you, they think you ae responsible for that child no m,atter what. I feel for you, been there. My husband and i have a terminally ill child and no healthinsurance because he is self employed, but the state doesnt care that I cant afford health care for MY children only that my hubands kid is taken care of.

You can try filing for a motion to decrease stating special circumstances....

Good luck!

Its not his kids fault that he is on disability. They are unable to work and support themselves. $170 a week is nothing, that goes NOWHERE when it comes to raising a child. These things need to be considered when you marry into that situation.

I agree its not the kids fault but I also believe the mother should SHARE EQUAL responsibility for the child. The writer does not state how many children, but if it is one child, that man is paying too much.

By him paying 170/wk and the MOM contributing 170/wk its taking 340.oo a week to raise that child???? Thats rediculous. NO child should cost their parents 340.00 /wk.

The child does'nt eat 340.00 a week in food, wear 340/wk in clothes.

For the record; Only one child - age 3, the mother makes more money than the father. In addition, she (still, at age 41) lives at home with her mother in a house that is completely paid off. So actually she really doesn't have any other bills than her brand new car and insurance.
(Because HER mother refuses to take any money from her - she gets social security and works too.)
So yes - according to the state's mathematic calculations MORE THAN $400 PER WEEK is supposed to be spent on this one child!!! By the way - he spends 38% of the time with us, which means we have to supply just about the same amount of "stuff" for him in this household. Also, his mother chooses to put him in daycare 5 days a week, even though he only needs 3 at the most. She is off one day, and his father gets another weekday off. Still, we're stuck paying half of that bill as well. We're not trying to get out of paying - we just don't see the logic in this.

StepMom, I really can sympathize with you. Since my husband started paying support 13 yrs ago for a kid he did'nt even want, but the mother abandoned our lives have been a living hell. My advice is to RUN, run away, get out now, there is still 15 years of this crap to go.

honestly, I would never ever get involved with someone who has kids again. Its not worth it.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by StepmomPA:
Problem in Pennsylvania. Went to child support hearing the other day and my husband got slammed with a WEEKLY payment of $170. His only income right now is about $700 / month from disability insurance. They took this income and added a $20K car insurance settlement that he received earlier this year AND added an "earning capacity" of $425 / week and came up with this figure. The settlement money has unfortunately already been spent on bills and regular living expenses over the past 3 months while he's been out of work, and so far he's had no luck getting a job in his field due to his decreased capacity (Herniated disc). There was no consideration given for these circumstances. Pay or go to jail. Sell your house, sell everything - just pay! Can anybody out there help???<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

You should have filed a motion to deviate from state child support guildlines due to the reasons you gave.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by StepmomPA:
For the record; Only one child - age 3, the mother makes more money than the father. In addition, she (still, at age 41) lives at home with her mother in a house that is completely paid off. So actually she really doesn't have any other bills than her brand new car and insurance.
(Because HER mother refuses to take any money from her - she gets social security and works too.)
So yes - according to the state's mathematic calculations MORE THAN $400 PER WEEK is supposed to be spent on this one child!!! By the way - he spends 38% of the time with us, which means we have to supply just about the same amount of "stuff" for him in this household. Also, his mother chooses to put him in daycare 5 days a week, even though he only needs 3 at the most. She is off one day, and his father gets another weekday off. Still, we're stuck paying half of that bill as well. We're not trying to get out of paying - we just don't see the logic in this.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


I can only assume you did not have an attorney.. I have no other advice to give than to get an attorney.

What if you and your husband were to get divorced? Would the state then give his second child (your child) elevated status and thus reduce the first child's support requirements as both children are under the care of their respective custodial mothers and theoretically equal in deprivation and need? You could then maybe live together and then re-marry after the first child turns 18. I'm not offering legal advice; I'm just postulating.

I recommend you contact your local prosecutors office. The local ones here seem to try to work with the non-custodial parents as long as they are being honest in their efforts. I also know that if you are really having a hard time affording this that you should be able to apply for legal help. Try checking out a few of those things before you give up. Good luck.

Zoobie:

What if you got divorced......you would qualify for medicaid.... and he would have a good reason to file for a reduction...

There are so many laws that FAVOUR living
together in this country...why not use them?

I did ask this of the people at the Dept. ofIncome Maintainance...Welfare. She said as long as we are living together , his income would count towards the households income and we would not be eligible.

Also, if I receive any king of state help be money, medical care or food stamps, the state would go after my husband to be reimbursed. So, we would be in the same boat we are now..

Also, when there is an order for support already in effectt, as in for the first child, the courts dont care about any subsequent children, they just give the subsequent children less or make the man really go into poverty. The State of Connecticut SUCKS! We have been trying for years to make the childs bio mom pay some sort of support, its only fair..but the state does'nt seem to think its worth going after her when they can make my life miserable.

We only have a year til his other kid turns 18, two years til he graduates from high school, we hope the support ends when he's 18 so we can get our son the medical attention he needs. He's 7 so we're hoping it is'nt too late.

Well, I just want to add that my daughter's father has been ordered to pay $636 per month, plus $159 a month back support (our daughter is almost 9 months old). That is not an outrageous amount. Granted, he makes more money than your husband does - or should I say more than your husband's earning capacity has been set at. Also, the mother's income does go into the calculation for support - at least in my state (MI) and in VA where my daugher's father lives, it does. I am responsible for 33% and he is responsible for 67%. He is not required to carry medical coverage (I don't think he could being in a different state). And, with subsequent children, the amount of support he pays for the first child does not get deducted before calculating support for the others. The amount would be different depending on what the mother makes, but he would get no break because of paying support to another child, nor would the subsequent child(ren) suffer.

As for the daycare - you say the mother CHOOSES to put the child in daycare 5 days a week when she only needs 3. You tell me what daycare lets you pay by the day and keep your spot guarenteed?? I have to pay $95 a week in daycare whether my daughter attends or not - that guarentees her spot. If I only worked 3 days a week (granted I assume I wouldn't be able to afford $95 a week) she would be there 5 days because I'm paying even it she's not.

I suggest your husband find a job doing pretty much whatever he can at this point - possibly looking outside his field just for the income. Paying that kind of money in support and only living off disability has to be tough on you all.

Thanks Everybody for your input!
LegalBeagle: Yes, we did have an attorney. His only comment when my husband protested that he could not afford this was: "It could be even worse. Just accept it. He is your child - you'll find the money." As far as deviations, special circumstances, not taking away a person's incentive to work etc. he just said that the judge wouldn't care about any of that. We didn't actually make it to a hearing where the judge just made a decision. This was an "agreement" made with the lawyers running back and forth between the clients in the waiting area and the judge in chambers. We were told that if we did not accept this deal then the judge would make the decision, and he had already made it clear that it would be WORSE. To me personally it seems a little fishy - kind of like somebody wanted to avoid an appeal. How do you appeal something that you "agreed" to?

Newmom: THIS daycare center has varying rates from 2 HALF days all the way up to 5 FULL days. You can set a schedule any way you want to - mix and match - and pay for that particular schedule. She just doesn't have any worries about money herself, so she chooses the full 5 days.

Zoobie: Thank you for your continuing support. I guess we're in the same boat. It's nice hearing from you!

I will check out the prosecutor's office like suggested, and also file a motion to deviate from the guidelines. The lawyer we used is done, and we can't afford another one, so I'll do it myself I guess.