What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Ohio
Hi, I have a 7 year old daughter and went through the CSEA for a child support/custody agreement with my ex back in 2005. The first agreement stated he had to provide medical and that I had "full custody with visitation at my sole discretion". Well, at the time he couldn't afford medical, so he took me back to court. He got a lawyer so I felt forced to get one too. I was only making about $18,000 per year at this time so I had to borrow money to pay the $1500 retainer for the lawyer (he made about the same but his parents paid for his). I actually was trying to be amicable and had offered to go to court with him before he hired a lawyer and speak on his behalf as I didn't really need extra medical insurance for our daughter. His lawyer was ruthless and not only wanted to get rid of medical, but wanted to lower the amount of support and wanted my previous year's tax returns! My lawyer said he'd refund half of the retainer if we settled without him having to go to court. He told me he finally reached an agreement with my ex's lawyer that would eliminate medical and require a $20 per month increase in support. I thought it sounded reasonable. He said he went through everything and had the paperwork at his office for me to sign. I went on my lunchbreak and didn't have time to read through the 20 plus page document until I returned to work. In the agreement, it said that we were going to start alternating years of claiming our daughter on our taxes! I immediately called me lawyer and said I didn't agree to this and he said there was nothing further he could do. He said this was pretty standard practice and is surprised it wasn't placed in our original agreement.
If my ex was actually involved in my daughters life, I wouldn't mind alternating years but I have her full time (he doesn't even visit) and I'm the one that pays for daycare and misses work when she's sick or for appointments (she goes to the dr every 30 days for a medical condition). He even changes jobs frequently and will go as long as he can without paying child support until they're threatening to suspend his license. He's never has more than a 2 week gap in his employment last year, yet at the end of the year he was $800 behind for failing to notify them when he changed jobs. Since the agreement that his lawyer drew up, our case has been re-reviewed by the CSEA several times and provisions have been made every time. I was under the impression that once a new agreement is drawn up, it replaces the old one. He is now required to cover medical and visitation has changed a little. There has been no further mention of alternating tax years since 2005, so am I able to assume we no longer have to? I am asking because I thought this was my year to claim her and it turns out it's not but my taxes are already completed. I tried to reason with my ex and tell him he could have next year but he was not hearing it. He said that he has our old agreement from 2005 and is going to claim her since it was his right. So will I have to file an amendment? I will take almost an $1800 loss by doing so and I really needed the money this year. And if this agreement is still valid, what do I need to do to change it and how likely is it that it could get changed? I was thinking about threatening my ex saying if he doesn't agree to this, I'll request a review of the amount of support he pays since we both make more $ and the amount of support has not changed since 2005 because like I said, I tried being amicable and even though I have the right to request a review, I've never done so. Each review has been done independently by the CSEA and did not effect the amount of support.
Hi, I have a 7 year old daughter and went through the CSEA for a child support/custody agreement with my ex back in 2005. The first agreement stated he had to provide medical and that I had "full custody with visitation at my sole discretion". Well, at the time he couldn't afford medical, so he took me back to court. He got a lawyer so I felt forced to get one too. I was only making about $18,000 per year at this time so I had to borrow money to pay the $1500 retainer for the lawyer (he made about the same but his parents paid for his). I actually was trying to be amicable and had offered to go to court with him before he hired a lawyer and speak on his behalf as I didn't really need extra medical insurance for our daughter. His lawyer was ruthless and not only wanted to get rid of medical, but wanted to lower the amount of support and wanted my previous year's tax returns! My lawyer said he'd refund half of the retainer if we settled without him having to go to court. He told me he finally reached an agreement with my ex's lawyer that would eliminate medical and require a $20 per month increase in support. I thought it sounded reasonable. He said he went through everything and had the paperwork at his office for me to sign. I went on my lunchbreak and didn't have time to read through the 20 plus page document until I returned to work. In the agreement, it said that we were going to start alternating years of claiming our daughter on our taxes! I immediately called me lawyer and said I didn't agree to this and he said there was nothing further he could do. He said this was pretty standard practice and is surprised it wasn't placed in our original agreement.
If my ex was actually involved in my daughters life, I wouldn't mind alternating years but I have her full time (he doesn't even visit) and I'm the one that pays for daycare and misses work when she's sick or for appointments (she goes to the dr every 30 days for a medical condition). He even changes jobs frequently and will go as long as he can without paying child support until they're threatening to suspend his license. He's never has more than a 2 week gap in his employment last year, yet at the end of the year he was $800 behind for failing to notify them when he changed jobs. Since the agreement that his lawyer drew up, our case has been re-reviewed by the CSEA several times and provisions have been made every time. I was under the impression that once a new agreement is drawn up, it replaces the old one. He is now required to cover medical and visitation has changed a little. There has been no further mention of alternating tax years since 2005, so am I able to assume we no longer have to? I am asking because I thought this was my year to claim her and it turns out it's not but my taxes are already completed. I tried to reason with my ex and tell him he could have next year but he was not hearing it. He said that he has our old agreement from 2005 and is going to claim her since it was his right. So will I have to file an amendment? I will take almost an $1800 loss by doing so and I really needed the money this year. And if this agreement is still valid, what do I need to do to change it and how likely is it that it could get changed? I was thinking about threatening my ex saying if he doesn't agree to this, I'll request a review of the amount of support he pays since we both make more $ and the amount of support has not changed since 2005 because like I said, I tried being amicable and even though I have the right to request a review, I've never done so. Each review has been done independently by the CSEA and did not effect the amount of support.
