What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? NY
I just recently went through the Family Court process for a Petition of Modification of child support filed by my ex-wife.
My first question pertains to a "change in circumstance" requirement. My ex-wife claimed several false increased expenditures for our child in her Petition all of which I refuted and she failed to prove during our hearing - from purchasing a personal computer and monthly ISP charges to clarinet lessons, a fall soccer program and other "elective" activities. She did not furnish one receipt nor did she seem to convince the judge that any of these costs were above and beyond the basic child support obligation. The only thing that seemed to affect the judge was the fact that my visitation has terminated during the course of the petition due to behavioral issues witrh my daughter as well as the fact that my ex-wife denied or made my visitation so difficult that it was non-productive. She eventually suceeded in alienating me from my daughter and claimed that, since she has my daughter 100 percent of the time, that her needs have increased. I need to know if a decrease in visitation from every other weekend and one day a week to sporadic visitation is truly a qualifying "change in circumstance" in the eyes of the Court.
As far as determining net income for child support purposes, the Magistrate took issue with two deductions from income on my Federal Income Tax return - my depreciation deductions and my home office expenses. She stated that since the depreciation deduction was discussed, permitted and taken when first determining child support upon at our divorce she would permit it (referencing the Boden case)- but only up to the amount of that first year and disallowed any amount above that cap. These expenses relate to the business use of a pickup truck (pro-rating business/personal use and using straightlinje depreciation methods as well as various Section 179 expenses for equipment purchased for business use and fully depreciated in the year purchased. It seems unreasonable for the Magistrate to excluded expenses required to earn income when they are "directly-related" to my business. Should I just expenses these purchases if they fall under a certain value (say $1,000.00)?
In regard to the home office deductions, the Magistrate disallowed these deductions in their entirety. Keep in mind these expenses incluse a pro-rated portion of property taxes, insurance and homeowner's insurance as well as utilities. Again, it seems unreasonable for the Magistrate to exclude expenses required to earn income when they are "directly-related" to my business. By excluding all home office expenses, she excluded even those "directly-related" to my business such as cell-phone charges, ISP charges and a e-mail based fax service. The "home office" is not a front. I truly do use a portion of my home exclusively for business.
Please advise me as to what the most advantageous accounting method would be to legitimately claim these business expenses and reduce my net income for child support calculation.
Thanks
I just recently went through the Family Court process for a Petition of Modification of child support filed by my ex-wife.
My first question pertains to a "change in circumstance" requirement. My ex-wife claimed several false increased expenditures for our child in her Petition all of which I refuted and she failed to prove during our hearing - from purchasing a personal computer and monthly ISP charges to clarinet lessons, a fall soccer program and other "elective" activities. She did not furnish one receipt nor did she seem to convince the judge that any of these costs were above and beyond the basic child support obligation. The only thing that seemed to affect the judge was the fact that my visitation has terminated during the course of the petition due to behavioral issues witrh my daughter as well as the fact that my ex-wife denied or made my visitation so difficult that it was non-productive. She eventually suceeded in alienating me from my daughter and claimed that, since she has my daughter 100 percent of the time, that her needs have increased. I need to know if a decrease in visitation from every other weekend and one day a week to sporadic visitation is truly a qualifying "change in circumstance" in the eyes of the Court.
As far as determining net income for child support purposes, the Magistrate took issue with two deductions from income on my Federal Income Tax return - my depreciation deductions and my home office expenses. She stated that since the depreciation deduction was discussed, permitted and taken when first determining child support upon at our divorce she would permit it (referencing the Boden case)- but only up to the amount of that first year and disallowed any amount above that cap. These expenses relate to the business use of a pickup truck (pro-rating business/personal use and using straightlinje depreciation methods as well as various Section 179 expenses for equipment purchased for business use and fully depreciated in the year purchased. It seems unreasonable for the Magistrate to excluded expenses required to earn income when they are "directly-related" to my business. Should I just expenses these purchases if they fall under a certain value (say $1,000.00)?
In regard to the home office deductions, the Magistrate disallowed these deductions in their entirety. Keep in mind these expenses incluse a pro-rated portion of property taxes, insurance and homeowner's insurance as well as utilities. Again, it seems unreasonable for the Magistrate to exclude expenses required to earn income when they are "directly-related" to my business. By excluding all home office expenses, she excluded even those "directly-related" to my business such as cell-phone charges, ISP charges and a e-mail based fax service. The "home office" is not a front. I truly do use a portion of my home exclusively for business.
Please advise me as to what the most advantageous accounting method would be to legitimately claim these business expenses and reduce my net income for child support calculation.
Thanks
