Final Judgement

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

Does anyone here know if a final judgment can be modified? What happens if I don't sign the final judgment?

Also, if the reason was good enough, can a judge order my ex to alternate the child tax credit even though she has the greater percentage of the custody?

Thanks..

t_p_us said:

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

Does anyone here know if a final judgment can be modified? What happens if I don't sign the final judgment?

Also, if the reason was good enough, can a judge order my ex to alternate the child tax credit even though she has the greater percentage of the custody?

Thanks..

Click to expand...

Whether you sign the judgment or not is irrelevant. Once the judge signs it, it is final.

Final judgments can be changed, but you have to go back to court and convince the judge either that your ex was fraudulently hiding something material or there has been a major change in circumstances. Even then, there's no guarantee that the judge will go along.

The judge can not order anything with respect to child tax credits. That follows IRS rules. What the judge CAN do is order that the custodial parent sign an 8332 (or whatever the number is) form in alternate years allowing the non-custodial parent to get the deduction. After that, it's up to the IRS rules to determine whether the child tax credit applies.

But you need to show a good reason to change it now. Just the fact that it might be more favorable to you to change it isn't sufficient. Either you have to prove fraud or that there has been a change in circumstances.

Thanks for the reply, but what would constatute a change of circumstance? For instance, I have my son from 5-7pm on Thursdays. Then I drop him off at him moms. Now, for me not only do I want my son overnight, but it would actually be beneficial for me. Because I work in her area, I have to commute about 25 mins 4 times on Thursday - to work and back and then to drop him off. That's a lot of wear and tear on my car, and also, I can take my time with my son - feeding him dinner, bath and getting him to bed without being rushed.

Would something like this be sufficiant enough to have the judgement modified?

t_p_us said:

Thanks for the reply, but what would constatute a change of circumstance? For instance, I have my son from 5-7pm on Thursdays. Then I drop him off at him moms. Now, for me not only do I want my son overnight, but it would actually be beneficial for me. Because I work in her area, I have to commute about 25 mins 4 times on Thursday - to work and back and then to drop him off. That's a lot of wear and tear on my car, and also, I can take my time with my son - feeding him dinner, bath and getting him to bed without being rushed.

Would something like this be sufficiant enough to have the judgement modified?

Click to expand...

Not likely.

First, you make it sound like that schedule was in place even before the divorce was final, so nothing has changed at all.

Second, even if that's a new schedule, a 25 minute commute isn't that big of a deal - not enough to reopen the entire divorce settlement. A significant change in circumstances is of one party relocates or loses a job or something of that nature.

So correct me if I'm wrong, To appeal a final judgement would cost a lot of money and may not be worth it. And if I wanted a different schedule, I should have negotiated that when I was in the negotiation process?

The thing is this, because of the nature of me losing my half of custodial rights, WAS my fault. I took me a year and a half just to get some of that time back. Now, there IS a clause in the final judgement that states that my ex and I can go back so that I can ask for more visitation time. I honestly thought it was as easy as going in and asking for more time. I didn't know that there had to be a change of circumstance. The example I just gave was my idea of one. That's why I want to contest the final judgement by not signing, but my lawyer said that would be submitted with or without my signature. It would just look bad if I didn't.

I want to go back and modify it, because I really am afraid that I won't get that extra time unless someone moves or catches the other doing drugs, etc. .

Btw, I was not aware that I was negotiating for the final judgement. My lawyer was not clear with me on that, nor did he ever say the word "final" that day. So I thought it was going to be just a typical court appearance time in my favor. Just a mess. . . . .

t_p_us said:

So correct me if I'm wrong, To appeal a final judgement would cost a lot of money and may not be worth it. And if I wanted a different schedule, I should have negotiated that when I was in the negotiation process?

The thing is this, because of the nature of me losing my half of custodial rights, WAS my fault. I took me a year and a half just to get some of that time back. Now, there IS a clause in the final judgement that states that my ex and I can go back so that I can ask for more visitation time. I honestly thought it was as easy as going in and asking for more time. I didn't know that there had to be a change of circumstance. The example I just gave was my idea of one. That's why I want to contest the final judgement by not signing, but my lawyer said that would be submitted with or without my signature. It would just look bad if I didn't.

I want to go back and modify it, because I really am afraid that I won't get that extra time unless someone moves or catches the other doing drugs, etc. .

Btw, I was not aware that I was negotiating for the final judgement. My lawyer was not clear with me on that, nor did he ever say the word "final" that day. So I thought it was going to be just a typical court appearance time in my favor. Just a mess. . . . .

Click to expand...

Does your ex agree with the change? If so, then you can submit it to the court and it should go through without difficulty.

If your ex is going to contest it, it could be a lot of time and money spent with no guarantees. The judge might very well feel that if it was important to you, you should have negotiated it before the final decree.

If your ex won't agree, ask the attorney whether it's worth the battle. The wording you have allows you to ask for a change even without a significant change, but judges don't like to change things without a good reason. And the reason you gave is irrelevant in this matter. The only thing that would possibly sway the judge is if you can convince him/her that it's in the CHILD's best interest.

Hm . . . I didn't think it was going to be this hard just to get an extra overnight with my son.

It just sucks because of the commute, but more importantly, I do feel like my time with him is rushed and there are times when he doesn't want to go. I mean after not seeing me for almost a week and only getting to spend 2 hour with daddy . . .that can't be good for him. Doesn't THAT count?

Oh and btw, my ex won't agree to anything. This is why it's so important for me to find the answers that I'm looking for. I'm been searching all day on the internet and so far I'm a little worried. I want more parenting time with my son. . . .

t_p_us said:

Hm . . . I didn't think it was going to be this hard just to get an extra overnight with my son.

It just sucks because of the commute, but more importantly, I do feel like my time with him is rushed and there are times when he doesn't want to go. I mean after not seeing me for almost a week and only getting to spend 2 hour with daddy . . .that can't be good for him. Doesn't THAT count?

Oh and btw, my ex won't agree to anything. This is why it's so important for me to find the answers that I'm looking for. I'm been searching all day on the internet and so far I'm a little worried. I want more parenting time with my son. . . .

Click to expand...

Then ask your attorney how likely it is that you'd get it - since it's impossible to know without having the specifics.

And meanwhile, ask him why he didn't try to get you more parenting time before the agreement was finalized. THAT would have been the time to do it.

How much time do you have?

Currently I have him from 1-7pm every other Sat and from 5-7pm every Thursday for "dinner visitation".

In November, I'll be able to pick him up from school on every other Friday and have him until Sunday 5pm.

What I REALLY wanted was to have him every Thursday until Friday morning when I drop him off at school, and every other weekend from Friday after school to Monday morning when I drop him off at school.

This would have been what my ex and I originally had going until I screwed up.

And honestly, I would have asked for my time back, but my lawyer said that there would be a POSSABILITY that I wouldn't get it. Even worse, that the judge might even give me less.

t_p_us said:

Currently I have him from 1-7pm every other Sat and from 5-7pm every Thursday for "dinner visitation".

In November, I'll be able to pick him up from school on every other Friday and have him until Sunday 5pm.

What I REALLY wanted was to have him every Thursday until Friday morning when I drop him off at school, and every other weekend from Friday after school to Monday morning when I drop him off at school.

This would have been what my ex and I originally had going until I screwed up.

And honestly, I would have asked for my time back, but my lawyer said that there would be a POSSABILITY that I wouldn't get it. Even worse, that the judge might even give me less.

Click to expand...

Then go with what your attorney said. If you did something that affected visitation so badly that you don't have any overnights and only get 2 hours / 8 hours in alternating weeks, there is certainly far more to the story than you've told.

Well I would have gone into specifics if I knew it would mean NOT having stones thrown at me. It's happened before to me on here. . . But if would help me getting the answers I need? Then I will.

But you are right, I guess I should trust my lawyers advice and be thankful that I got the time that I did, but like any other parent out there, I just want more parenting time with my son.

It appears that you do not actually have a final judgment yet. What you may have had was a final hearing. After this hearing a proposed final judgment is drafted by one attorney, who should then send it to the other attorney for review. It may go back and forth a couple of times until the document accurately reflects the rulings made at the final hearing. This is then filed with a motion to sign judgment.

If there remain any unresolved issues with the wording of the final decree, both attorneys usually hash it in front of the judge out at a hearing to sign the decree. In these cases the judge may make last minute crossouts or add-ins to the decree before signing it.

There is occasionally some room to wiggle in last minute modifications at the time the decree is signed. However, you should listen to your attorneys recommendations on what should be and what should not be argued with regards to the final decree.

Read and reread the proposed order several times before it goes to the final hearing. Make sure there are no errors or omissions, or any statements that are ambiguous or subject to different interpretations. Once signed it is a done deal that you will have to live with for a long time. Make sure the decree clearly properly specifies who gets to deduct any children and when.

So, say my ex and I agreed to a certain schedule and it was written up and all that . . .When it's time for the judge to sign the final judgement, he/she can modify it to HIS/HER liking? So if the judge doesn't think that I'm ready to have my son on this day YET, it can be modified, then finalized? I'm a little confused and this is obviously something my lawyer failed to mentioned.

t_p_us said:

So, say my ex and I agreed to a certain schedule and it was written up and all that . . .When it's time for the judge to sign the final judgement, he/she can modify it to HIS/HER liking? So if the judge doesn't think that I'm ready to have my son on this day YET, it can be modified, then finalized? I'm a little confused and this is obviously something my lawyer failed to mentioned.

Click to expand...

You have been cryptic so no one can give you a truly clear answer.

However, if no fitness issues have been raised and social services has not been involved, then there would be no reason for a judge not sign off on an agreement between two parents, unless the agreement contains language that is blatantly contrary to the law.

LdiJ said:

You have been cryptic so no one can give you a truly clear answer.

However, if no fitness issues have been raised and social services has not been involved, then there would be no reason for a judge not sign off on an agreement between two parents, unless the agreement contains language that is blatantly contrary to the law.

Click to expand...

There seems to be some fitness issue. It doesn't take much reading between the lines to pick THAT much up.

His best bet is to listen to his attorney and make it clear he wants as much time as he can get -- and then to get his life straightened out to make modification in the future possible.