How long do I wait?

[tornado88]

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

Father & I divorced in 2003. There has been no modification of child support or any other issue since that time. For a while now I have been considering going back to have support modified. I would also like to add half of child care expenses as well as half of school expenses (enrollment & initial activity fees only. This usually runs about 80-100 a child). I also recently discovered that the father will begin a new job next week that will include quite a substaintial increase in income.

My questions are:
How long after his starting a new job should I wait to modify the court ordered CS?
Will they use tax returns along with recent pay stubs, or will it depend on what I ask that he supply for proof of income?
What is the best way to come up with the child care amount? The babysitter charges an hourly rate and how long they stay there depends on the season(stepfater is a farmer, during planting season and harvest times he works very long hours and I work second shift.) So there is no set amount. How do I make this fair to father?
lastly, do I need to also iclude tings I wish to stay the same in my request for a modification? For example, father is to pay 1/2 of all medical expenses not covered by my insurance. I would like to continue that, so do I include that as well, or will it automatically transfer over if not specifically addressed?

Thank you!

 

[LdiJ]

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

Father & I divorced in 2003. There has been no modification of child support or any other issue since that time. For a while now I have been considering going back to have support modified. I would also like to add half of child care expenses as well as half of school expenses (enrollment & initial activity fees only. This usually runs about 80-100 a child). I also recently discovered that the father will begin a new job next week that will include quite a substaintial increase in income.

My questions are:
How long after his starting a new job should I wait to modify the court ordered CS?
Will they use tax returns along with recent pay stubs, or will it depend on what I ask that he supply for proof of income?
What is the best way to come up with the child care amount? The babysitter charges an hourly rate and how long they stay there depends on the season(stepfater is a farmer, during planting season and harvest times he works very long hours and I work second shift.) So there is no set amount. How do I make this fair to father?
lastly, do I need to also iclude tings I wish to stay the same in my request for a modification? For example, father is to pay 1/2 of all medical expenses not covered by my insurance. I would like to continue that, so do I include that as well, or will it automatically transfer over if not specifically addressed?

Thank you!

Most jobs have a 90 day probationary period, so I would at least let that pass before filing for a modification. Most likely recent pay stubs is what will be used. However you can bring it to the judge's or the CSE's attention if dad tries to submit only tax returns that show his previous income.

Add up your child care amount over a whole year, and then divide it by 12 months or 52 weeks.

Generally anything that is not addressed in the modification remains the same, but it doesn't hurt to include those items anyway.

 

[nextwife]

All the children still need daycare? Aren't at least the oldest in school all day, if you've been divorced that long?

 

[LdiJ]

All the children still need daycare? Aren't at least the oldest in school all day, if you've been divorced that long?

Nextwife, she said that she works second shift, and that her husband is a farmer who often has to work very long hours during the harvest and planting seasons, therefore, after school care is obviously needed part of the time, and extended beyond that during planting and harvesting.

 

[tornado88]

You are correct, with the second shift, actually 11 AM to 7 PM, after school care is a necessity, along with summer care. The children are 8 & 6 so this will be an issue for quite some yet to come. With the peak times during harvest and planting along with the summer months daycare can get quite expensive. It helps when during the dead of winter they are hardly there, unfortunately, that period doesn't last to long. I really need some help with the day care expenses, the father doesn't assist with at all, but I also want to be fair about it. Thank you LdiJ, I will get my cancelled checks for the last year and use those as a guideline.

 

[tornado88]

New Question please-

Last week the father sent me information about health and dental insurance that he just put the girls on. He was ordered to provide health insurance for them at the time of the original CS order, but this is the first job he has had that had the benefit of insurance. My concern is that the closest doctor's office is an hour away and the closest hospital is about 2 -2 1/2 hours away. That means any blood work, x-rays and such will take a large part of a day to complete. Both girls have allergies and we are monitoring one for juvenile diabetes so we go to the doctors office frequently. I also can not find any information (from websites) about deductables and such so I will have an idea of how much visits would cost. When I ask the father he tells me its my responsibility to find out that info, he supplied the insurance and I should do "my" part now.

My question is this- I started a new job in a hospital a short time ago and will be eligible for health insurance the first part of November. I am seriously considering adding the girls to my policy so they can stay at their current doctors office and it definately will be much closer. I am also thinking deductables and such may be lower as well, with the business being a health center, but I could be wrong. Am I out of line by doing this? How will this look when we go back to court for a CS review? I don't want to appear to be difficult to work with, while he has done what he was supposed to, it is very inconvienant.

I was considering asking him to pay half of the childcare expenses. Would it be a fair compromise to ask that he pay that expense in exchange for me paying for the health insurance?

Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[tornado88]

Okay, so I have filed for a modification in child support. The hearing has not been set yet, but I was told it will be after the 15th of December. That will put NCP past the 90 days trial period for a new job. I am trying to do this pro se and today I received, in the mail, the response from NCP's attorney. He is asking for the following:

1. "Respondent will be paying substantially more in child support wherein tax exemptions can be awarded to Repondent." - How much the two of us earns doesn't make any difference when it comes to tax exemptions does it? Right now we each claim one child on our taxes. I don't see any reason to change this? Am I wrong or is he just trying to see what he can get away with?

2. "Respondent now provides all transportation for the monir children." He is wanting us to split the transportation in 1/2. I wouldn't have a problem with this except HE moved two hours away. The girls and I still live in the same town we lived in at the time of the divorce. If I have read on here correctly, he should be responsible for the transportation, right?

I am trying to find case laws to back up my points on these two issues. I am not having much luck yet, but have just started. Any information anyone can give me on these two matters would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.