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Divorce and child support issues after Protection Order

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lukita

Junior Member
Florida

2 years after I was granted a Protection Order, my husband and I spoke about divorce.
He told me to keep everything "as is", so I expressed to him that due to our situation, I wanted someone to revised that the child support amount was revised, just to make sure it was correct, since it was settled at the Court as "emergency child support" because we were supposed to go to family court and arrange all that, but we didn't.
He accused me of "talking ****", trying to create trouble and threatened to take away half of what was left in the apartment. (He already took his belongings 2 years ago and other stuff, plus other things were broken or old so they were disposed or replaced).
I think his salary is (or was) around $1,100- $1,200, since he doesn't work full time. My child gets $225 per month which I don't know if it's what he should be receiving.
I am not from this country and managed to get my Green Card last year, but my child is autistic, allergic, asthmatic and he misses school a few days every month, so I have to care for him. We also don't have a car, so is very hard to commute... I am trying to figure out how to be able to work at least part time under this circumstances, since I have no skills or work experience on the US.
We have been getting by because I had some money saved and my child receives SSI, but this won't last much longer.
The time my child spends with his father is one day per week, from morning to night and he also drives him to his 1 hour therapy one day a week and I take him the other day. But the thing is... he doesn't even want to buy him diapers, wipes, snacks, toys or anything... I have to pack a backpack with everything, because according to him the child support is to cover all of this.
I can't afford a lawyer, is it wise to do the Uncontested Divorce? Or does my child deserve more? We live in Florida.
 


CTU

Meddlesome Priestess
Florida

2 years after I was granted a Protection Order, my husband and I spoke about divorce.
He told me to keep everything "as is", so I expressed to him that due to our situation, I wanted someone to revised that the child support amount was revised, just to make sure it was correct, since it was settled at the Court as "emergency child support" because we were supposed to go to family court and arrange all that, but we didn't.
He accused me of "talking ****", trying to create trouble and threatened to take away half of what was left in the apartment. (He already took his belongings 2 years ago and other stuff, plus other things were broken or old so they were disposed or replaced).
I think his salary is (or was) around $1,100- $1,200, since he doesn't work full time. My child gets $225 per month which I don't know if it's what he should be receiving.
I am not from this country and managed to get my Green Card last year, but my child is autistic, allergic, asthmatic and he misses school a few days every month, so I have to care for him. We also don't have a car, so is very hard to commute... I am trying to figure out how to be able to work at least part time under this circumstances, since I have no skills or work experience on the US.
We have been getting by because I had some money saved and my child receives SSI, but this won't last much longer.
The time my child spends with his father is one day per week, from morning to night and he also drives him to his 1 hour therapy one day a week and I take him the other day. But the thing is... he doesn't even want to buy him diapers, wipes, snacks, toys or anything... I have to pack a backpack with everything, because according to him the child support is to cover all of this.
I can't afford a lawyer, is it wise to do the Uncontested Divorce? Or does my child deserve more? We live in Florida.
This is important: Did he sponsor your green-card via marriage, and complete the I-864 Affidavit of Support?
 

lukita

Junior Member
This is important: Did he sponsor your green-card via marriage, and complete the I-864 Affidavit of Support?
I came here on a K1 Visa. A friend of his mother co-sponsored for me and my daughter.
We got married but he started being abusive and kept threatening me with deportation... then he finally filed 3 years (and a child) later, but I couldn't take the abuse anymore because it was affecting the children, so I reported him before the Green Card Interview. I asked immigration to hold my case and filed through VAWA and they approved and me and my daughter received it last year.
 

CTU

Meddlesome Priestess
I came here on a K1 Visa. A friend of his mother co-sponsored for me and my daughter.
We got married but he started being abusive and kept threatening me with deportation... then he finally filed 3 years (and a child) later, but I couldn't take the abuse anymore because it was affecting the children, so I reported him before the Green Card Interview. I asked immigration to hold my case and filed through VAWA and they approved and me and my daughter received it last year.
I'm thinking you might want to consider suing for support using the terms of the I-864 Affidavit of support. Of course, that might mean you have to sue the friend too. This support is typically in addition to child support (instead of being a replacement).

With that being said, the more important issue is child support. I think you should go here http://floridarevenue.com/dor/childsupport/guidelines.html and run the numbers a couple of times. You want to impute yourself an income and impute him an income which reflects what he'd earn full-time at his current job. Then do the same thing, but leave your income as zero.

Then come back and see if you should be filing for an increase or not.
 

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