NCP requested modification (decrease) in C/S

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

I just received notice that I am required to attend a hearing to modify child support (NCP requesting a decrease) due to change in circumstances.

Background:
NCP had 2 active support orders in NJ for several years with no issues. (NCP has one child from prior relationship on 1st order and then our 2 children on 2nd order.)

NCP just began brand new support order #3 in NJ that went into effect last month for his 4th and 5th children (not dependents).

I am trying to determine in advance of the hearing, if the NCP will be given a credit on the NJ C/S guidelines on our existing order for the brand new C/S order #3?

One other complication is that NCP works one steady 40-hr/wk retail job but his income is so low that his weekly C/S payroll garnishment is being prorated between the 3 support orders, and all are being underpaid weekly by 50% so that his net pay stays just above poverty level. NCP has very strongly stated to me off the record that he refuses to work a second job because he needs personal time for himself. He also passed up a promotion at his current company because he would be required to work an additional 15 hours/week and told me that the extra $15K per year in salary would go straight to C/S so he didn't want to put in the effort.

Neither NCP nor I have had a change in income so the potential modification would be solely based upon whether he receives credit for the new support order #3. I have manually calculated the NJ C/S guidelines with our incomes and if NCP does get credit for this, it will put him under 105% of poverty level which will bring my support order down to almost nothing.

Whether or not your CS order is reduced isn't really important (google NJ child support guidelines if you want to know). You're already being paid less than the full amount. If another order is issued for the other kids, they're going to prorate all the orders and you'll get even less.

If you could prove that he's voluntarily underemployed, you might be able to get the court to impute the higher income to him. But that won't help, either, because they're restricted by law from collecting more than they already are. It would mean that there would be more arrears that you might conceivably collect some day, but that's it.

Realistically, some people will go out of their way to not pay child support, so you need to structure your life in such a way that you can survive without it. It's unfortunate, but that's the way it is.

Meanwhile, I hope someone will convince him to get a vasectomy.

Has he ever really been employed at a higher level consistantly?

Yes, all three of the NCP's orders are being prorated. So if my C/S order decreases, I would receive a smaller percentage of the prorated amount and the other two orders would by default receive a larger prorated percentage (with all remaining amounts going to arrears). I have looked VERY closely at the NJ C/S guidelines and the one and only point I can't determine is whether the guidelines allow the NCP a credit for his two non-dependent children that were born AFTER my order was already in place. This one issue will determine whether there is a decrease when I calculate the NJ C/S guidelines.

When it comes down to it, having the C/S in arrears to be paid in the future will be better than nothing though. So, would you have any advice on how I would prove that he is voluntarily underemployed? I have no written proof that he turned down a promotion and he has been at the same retail management position for 8 years.

Would a judge expect the obligor to work in excess of 40 hours per week to meet the full obligation? Obligor spends in excess of 30 hours per week coaching two different adult softball leagues and spending 2 hrs at the gym/6 days per week which he self documents on Facebook (public profile) and has maintained the same softball/gym schedule for for the past 10 years. He also voluntarily forfeits 95% of his parenting time from all 5 children due to his hobbies.

Also, due to obligor's low income, would a judge take his reduced living expenses as a factor in whether his income is at poverty level? Obligor has been living rent-free for many years in his disabled mother's apartment, in which her rent is paid in full by Section 8 Housing Authority and he has no plans to move as he has lived with her his entire life (does not take care of her).

Last question, NCP is required to maintain health insurance for the children, which is through NCP's employer. NCP receives a significant credit in the NJ C/S guidelines due to the cost our kids' health insurance. However, he is fraudulently withholding the fact that the state is reimbursing him for these premiums through the Premium Support Program. (He mails his pay stub to this program, gets a non taxable reimbursement check and then cashes it so that it cannot be tracked.) He has admitted this to me and I have seen his reimbursement checks but have no written "proof" to present to court, nor will the state give me any information as I am a third party. Is there any way to obtain this, short of hiring an attorney to subpoena the information?

I apologize if I come across as being nit picky on each and every issue but our upcoming modification hearing (which he initiated to decrease support) will be my one and only attempt to bring up any of these items. I'm not even looking to increase the support order, which is already based on the C/S guidelines from 2010. I just want to maintain the order "as is" and be done with it all.

PS: To answer the next poster, no, the NCP has never had a higher income, nor does he have a college degree or any specialized skills or job training to be hired at any type of higher paying job. He has been at the same exact assistant retail management position for 8 years and has voluntarily turned down managing his own store due to the extra hours and the fact that any extra income would go to C/S and not directly to him.