Is this CS calculation correct?

[clo12]

What is the name of your state? FL

Hello all, any assistance will be graetly appreciated.

I'm one of the many (or few) that has had to deal with my divorce and child support hearings/issues on my own, haven't been able to afford an attorney to help me thru this, now i kind of regret it.

I divorced back in August 2004. At that particular time my ex was out of work undergoing some type of case fighting a "wrongful" employment termination from her employer. It apperas she was fired a few monthe prior to August 2004 for something she claimed was not her fault. She took it to court. 10 or 11 months later she won the case. Her employer had to reinstate her employment as if she was never fired and back pay the whole time she was out.

At the divorce there CS was calculated. I had to pay 100% off it since at the time she was not working and she said her income was zero. Arrears was also set at that time.

Shortly after i lost my job, got laid off. We had verbal understanding and i gave her what i could. It was not a set amount at the regular interval agrred upon at the divorce.

I never filed a modification in CS and now my arrrears has mutiplied. She recently went to child support and i will be having that original amount deducted from my part-time earnings. My child support is about hals of my take home.

I need to modify this calculation of course, but what i really want to know is what can i do about her employment status. Technically she was nerver unemployed. CS enforcement says i cannot modify past amounts, only going forward. Is this really the case due to this unusual situation?

Hope i explained myself well. Thx.What is the name of your state?

 

[Silverplum]

What is the name of your state? FL
Hello all, any assistance will be graetly appreciated.

I'm one of the many (or few) that has had to deal with my divorce and child support hearings/issues on my own, haven't been able to afford an attorney to help me thru this, now i kind of regret it.

I divorced back in August 2004. At that particular time my ex was out of work undergoing some type of case fighting a "wrongful" employment termination from her employer. It apperas she was fired a few monthe prior to August 2004 for something she claimed was not her fault. She took it to court. 10 or 11 months later she won the case. Her employer had to reinstate her employment as if she was never fired and back pay the whole time she was out.

At the divorce there CS was calculated. I had to pay 100% off it since at the time she was not working and she said her income was zero. Arrears was also set at that time.

Shortly after i lost my job, got laid off. We had verbal understanding and i gave her what i could. It was not a set amount at the regular interval agrred upon at the divorce.

I never filed a modification in CS and now my arrrears has mutiplied. She recently went to child support and i will be having that original amount deducted from my part-time earnings. My child support is about hals of my take home.

I need to modify this calculation of course, but what i really want to know is what can i do about her employment status. Technically she was nerver unemployed. CS enforcement says i cannot modify past amounts, only going forward. Is this really the case due to this unusual situation?

Hope i explained myself well. Thx.What is the name of your state?

You explained fine. I just have a couple of clarifying questions and comments.

Yes, you made a mistake by not modifying CS when you were laid off. And yes, you owe those arrears. And no, you cannot modify past amounts, only move forward.

Big Question: Did you just recently have a CS hearing and now there is a new court order for CS?

 

[Gracie3787]

What is the name of your state? FL

Hello all, any assistance will be graetly appreciated.

I'm one of the many (or few) that has had to deal with my divorce and child support hearings/issues on my own, haven't been able to afford an attorney to help me thru this, now i kind of regret it.

I divorced back in August 2004. At that particular time my ex was out of work undergoing some type of case fighting a "wrongful" employment termination from her employer. It apperas she was fired a few monthe prior to August 2004 for something she claimed was not her fault. She took it to court. 10 or 11 months later she won the case. Her employer had to reinstate her employment as if she was never fired and back pay the whole time she was out.

At the divorce there CS was calculated. I had to pay 100% off it since at the time she was not working and she said her income was zero. Arrears was also set at that time.

Shortly after i lost my job, got laid off. We had verbal understanding and i gave her what i could. It was not a set amount at the regular interval agrred upon at the divorce.

I never filed a modification in CS and now my arrrears has mutiplied. She recently went to child support and i will be having that original amount deducted from my part-time earnings. My child support is about hals of my take home.

I need to modify this calculation of course, but what i really want to know is what can i do about her employment status. Technically she was nerver unemployed. CS enforcement says i cannot modify past amounts, only going forward. Is this really the case due to this unusual situation?

Hope i explained myself well. Thx.What is the name of your state?

First, you really need an attorney. Fl is an income shares state where they use combined incomes to determine CS. It's outrageous that the court did not impute an income to your ex. It's also outrageous that you were ordered to cover 100% of your child's statutory needs. It's pretty evident that you are probably dealing with one of Fl's many biased Judges , added to that now that CSE is involved, you will have to have an attorney in order to ensure that the laws are followed this time around.

Unfortunately, you cannot modify any of the past due amounts, but you can file for a modification ASAP and it *should* be retro back to the date you file. This time the CS should be calculated using both of your incomes, so your on-going CS amount should decrease quite a bit. But- the court will most likely add arrears payments on to that, so your overall payments might not decrease by very much.

To get a consult with an attorney call the Bar referrall service at 1-800-342-8011.

 

[clo12]

You explained fine. I just have a couple of clarifying questions and comments.

Yes, you made a mistake by not modifying CS when you were laid off. And yes, you owe those arrears. And no, you cannot modify past amounts, only move forward.

Big Question: Did you just recently have a CS hearing and now there is a new court order for CS?

Ex just recently went to child support (more for the wrong reasons). I have been working on getting my business off the ground for the past 1.5 years. The GM said that i was not showing "on the books" income and ordered me to find a job or "on the books" income. Two weeks later i got "on the books". GM othen ordered CS to be deducted direcltly from my payroll checks. Shortly after (today) hearing was heard to determine arrears.

My arrears and CS is based on my ex beign unemployed, but technocally she was not. She was wrongfully fired and then given her position back with back pay and everything. It was as if she was never fired. So, can i get my CS/Arrears modified due to that fact?

 

[GrowUp!]

So, can i get my CS/Arrears modified due to that fact?

I would NOT count on getting your arrears modified, although you really DO need an attorney. Perhaps in FL, the attorneys would know if her not reporting her backpay could means problems for her (with case law to support it), but the attorney would have to file a separate case through the courts. Maybe you can approach the ex and offer her in exchange for correcting/quashing the arrears, you will not hire an attorney to go after her for not reporting her backpay and return to employment (which I believe ANY parent in any state is required to do).
Also, when there is a recalculation, she has to submit the past 3 years of tax returns and several months of W2's...you might also need to do a request of documents and interrogatories as well. So I would think that her backpay awarded would show on her W2 from her employer.
I would suggest reviewing your order to see if there is any language in it that requires either parent to report a change in employment and/or earnings, etc. If not, review FL statutes regarding income reporting for CS (maybe someone from FL on here would know it). It wouldn't hurt to ask the CS officer flat-out during the hearing about it either -- just to see the reaction of your ex.
You messed up not filing for a mod, so you will have to deal with your arrerage for now...but you should look into the ex not reporting the backpay and getting her job back.