just a few questions regarding support

[SnS76]

What is the name of your state? NH

i just have a few simple questions ..
ill give a lil background but im not even sure its necessary for the answers ..
i was with my ex for aprox 14 years, since we were both teens .. we eventually moved in together and had two children and never got married .. they are now 11 and 9
we have been 'officially' split now for aprox 3 years ... and had a verbal, yes i know, stupid, agreement for him to pay 150 a week in support, which he did for the most part ..and he was 'allowed' visitation when he wanted ..
recently within the last year and a half or so, his payments have become less and less reliable to a point of stopping .. coincidentally this also came around the same time of meeting someone, movin in with her and her two children and having another with her. support has totally stopped and he has lost contact with my children in all ways, including moving and not informing us of where .. the only contact i have for him now is a work number and place which he has been employed at for 11 years.
now i could go on and on about how i believe the new girlfriend is the one behind all of this because of his willingness to support his children before, but i wont because that really doesnt matter
my question now is, and based on what i know .. how will this new child and her children affect what mine will receive in support ? im not sure of the exact circumstances as far as if they are now married or what, being i have not really had much contact with him in the last year or so and neither have my children. the last time i spoke with him, he claimed he was holding back support because i wouldnt 'allow' him to see them although many attempts were made by my 11 yr old son to get him to visit before he finally gave up on him.
i did hire myself a lawyer and we are in the process of sendin out paperwork to get a support order in place .. but the facts seem fuzzy to me as to what will happen when this comes up in court ..
i know i have been advised that its almost a catch 22 .. that if he doesnt have an order in place for this new child it wont be considered a 'payment' he has to make and wont be counted towards what he is required to pay me ? .. im not sure if that would be exactly true ? .. any help would be appreciated .. thanks

 

[CJane]

You really need to ask your attorney these questions. While it IS true that unless there's an order in place for the other children, then that won't have an impact on the CS he's ordered to pay you... but in some states (mine is one) each parent gets a credit for other children in their custody. So he MAY get a credit for the biological child of his that lives in his household.

 

[SnS76]

i did ask the lawyer and she said that its possible that he could get a credit for the new child .. but what about if they are now married ? would he also get a credit for her two children that live in the household ? would he be able to claim that he helps support them also ? .. and in regards to that, would they then include what she earms in figuring out my children's support ?
the way i see it, is if he's going to be able to claim to be half supportive of them, wouldnt she be made to submit her earnings as well ? or am i totally off base ?

 

[Accountable]

i did ask the lawyer and she said that its possible that he could get a credit for the new child .. but what about if they are now married ? would he also get a credit for her two children that live in the household ? would he be able to claim that he helps support them also ? .. and in regards to that, would they then include what she earms in figuring out my children's support ?
the way i see it, is if he's going to be able to claim to be half supportive of them, wouldnt she be made to submit her earnings as well ? or am i totally off base ?

You are totally off base. From what I understand, he is not legally obligated to support his stepchildren. His wife's income is not a factor in calculating support HE owes for your children. Is your attorney preparing a suit to estatblish child support?

 

[SnS76]

so then he would not be able to take any sort of credit for her children ?

And she is getting ready to file .. these are questions i had asked that she was unsure about the answers to. she didnt know what would happen one way or the other til we were going thru the proceedings. i was hoping someone on here might have a little more insight as far as how all of this goes ..
im pretty much worried that because i didnt get an order in place before he established this 'new' family that it will come back and basically bite my kids because he will now be able to claim support of another child that is supposedly his and her two others ..
from what ive been told though, because there most likely isnt a order in place for this new child, because you can not legally obtain one while youre living with the other parent, that the credit would be different than having an actual order .. i dont even understand how that works .. what exactly would be the difference ?

 

[haiku]

it is rare in the State of New Hampshire, for the court to consider subsequent children when it comes to child support figures. (at least in my experience-research and lawyer...so take that with the grain of freeadvice salt...) The laws which yo ucan find if you google, state that it is possible and at the judges discretion, but as I said, it does not seem to happen with any regularity....

IF he has no other child support orders in place, yours will be "first" to be figured on his current income.

 

[CJane]

IF he has no other child support orders in place, yours will be "first" to be figured on his current income.

And even so, he's NOT going to receive a credit for his step children and his wife's income will NOT be considered in setting support for your child.

Does your attorney specialize in family law?

 

[SnS76]

thats exactly what i was hoping for haiku and CJane

and she does specialize, unfortunatly she had made it known to me from the beginning that she was a 'newer' attorney in this field but she seemed very much to have my children's best interest in mind when we met for the consult ..

And even so, he's NOT going to receive a credit for his step children and his wife's income will NOT be considered in setting support for your child.

now as far as this goes, what happens when he starts claiming all these living expenses ? obviously he isnt the only one paying them compared to myself in a single mother household ? im again just worried that he will find some way to 'reduce' what he actually earns with all these credits and end up paying the minimum that he can ..

The laws which yo ucan find if you google

what exactly should i google ? ive tried to find the laws of this state regarding all of this and havent come up with much ...


thanks so much for your advice

 

[Ohiogal]

thats exactly what i was hoping for haiku and CJane

and she does specialize, unfortunatly she had made it known to me from the beginning that she was a 'newer' attorney in this field but she seemed very much to have my children's best interest in mind when we met for the consult ..

Your attorney is NOT a specialist in family law if she is a newer attorney. SPECIALISTS in a field require extended training and years in practice. She may LIMIT her practice to types of law (i.e. family law or what not) but she is not a specialist. And if she is a specialist and does not know this, run!

 

[haiku]

http://www.courts.state.nh.us/fdpp/fdpp/support.htm

there are links there to help you learn how the support will be figured.

Living expenses of the custodial and non custodial parent, are NOT used to figure child support. they are not going to care about your rent or your bills, they care about your income, as it appears after legal deductions for your taxes and such.... As CJane reiterated and I didn't make as clear as I hoped, ALL subsequent children in a household, including steps are not counted.

 

[CJane]

and she does specialize, unfortunatly she had made it known to me from the beginning that she was a 'newer' attorney in this field but she seemed very much to have my children's best interest in mind when we met for the consult ..

I fear she's a little too new if she doesn't know the answer to these questions. Are you ONLY pursuing CS?

now as far as this goes, what happens when he starts claiming all these living expenses ?

In my state, the NCP is not allowed to claim any living expenses, so I can't really help with that.

what exactly should i google ? ive tried to find the laws of this state regarding all of this and havent come up with much ...

Go here: (copy and paste the link) http://www.divorcelawinfo.com/states/nh/newhampshire.htm

There are links for 'Child Support Explained', 'Child Support Guidelines' and a 'Child Support Calculator'.

 

[Zephyr]

thats exactly what i was hoping for haiku and CJane

and she does specialize, unfortunatly she had made it known to me from the beginning that she was a 'newer' attorney in this field but she seemed very much to have my children's best interest in mind when we met for the consult ..



now as far as this goes, what happens when he starts claiming all these living expenses ? obviously he isnt the only one paying them compared to myself in a single mother household ? im again just worried that he will find some way to 'reduce' what he actually earns with all these credits and end up paying the minimum that he can ..


while that really is great, YOUR attorney needs to have YOUR best interests in mind and work towards those, the GAL works for the childrens best interests.....



what exactly should i google ? ive tried to find the laws of this state regarding all of this and havent come up with much ...


thanks so much for your advice

see bold******************************************

 

[SnS76]

okay, im going to try and respond to all of that in one post ..lol

first thank you for the links, they were very helpful in finding out amounts and how they figure out exactly how the amount is figured. Im thinking the things that i really want/need to know about seem to be a case by case thing ? where it could really go either way depending on the situation ?
I did notice however that there was something about if you have a child that is 'sickly' or developmentally disabled that the cost may be more .. I do have a daughter that is speech impaired, was diagnosed at age two with developmental verbal dyspraxia and has been in therapy and was recently diagnosed with various learning disibilities and so on. She is at the doctor's quite a bit and one of the things i had spoken to the attorney about was a shared medical, where he would be responsible for half of all these co-pays and deductibles that i pay out for her on my own, that i was told, in writing from the dad's new girlfriend thats what my child support was for. And yes, he does still carry them on his medical, but lucky him, he's in a union and only pays seven dollars a week for his family plan.

Anyway, to go on to the answers, for right now the main purpose of taking him to court is for child support. the attorney did say that visitation and custody will come up regardless. That even though they are seperate, given his history he will probably claim that the reason he isn't/wont pay is because i dont allow him to see them. Even though i know the judge will see them as a totally seperate issue but for me for me to be prepared .. she has given me a parenting plan worksheet to fill out just in case.

Im curious though, one of the posts i received back said that living expenses and things of that nature werent included .. but on those sites i looked at yesterday, it said that a finacial worksheet would be sent out to both parents to write down exactly what they pay out every month and the support would then be figured from that along with the state calculator .. maybe i misread it ? This is a big worry of mine as he is always quick to bring up the fact that he will write off his bills as being so large that he will only have to pay the least amount .. which is why i havent taken him to court in the past .. i was happy with the little he was giving weekly because i could count on it to come and i made up the rest ...



thanks again

 

[haiku]

OK, pretty much all states are going to ask you for detailed financials..to get a full picture of your income etc.....your rent and grocery bills, are NOT going to be used to figure support in the state of New Hampshire. SO yes you misread that. (honestly your lawyer worries me because you shoul dalready know this....)

If your child has medical needs above and beyond what insurance would cover it may be possible for you to have that included in your court order. But the NCP has insurance so he will likely be ordered to continue covering the child. And it would be up to the judge to decide what was above and beyond the fathers coverage.

its standard for parents to split uncovered costs 50%. Be ready for that.

And if there is currently NO order fo rmedical "technically" the girlfriend is right...(though I would absolutely REFUSE to speak to that girlfriend were O you)

Honestly with the cost of private insurance you really should be thankful your child with medical issues, is being covered by your ex's union insurance. I don't understand your issue with THAT.

ANd yes you would be wise to fill out a parenting plan NOW, to work out something agreeable for the THREE of you. Remember its important for your child to have a relationship with BOTH her parents.

 

[SnS76]

haiku, trust me, i dont have an issue at all with the fact that he at least does still have them on his insurance, im extremely grateful for that when it comes to my youngest's medical needs being as they are. Although, i do have to say i do think it's a little unfair, for lack of a better word, that im paying out so much more in co-pays and other costs monthly than he does with his seven dollars a week. Which is why i need to ask for a 50% share of them.
Unfortunatly this was something the dad and i again verbally agreed on when we also agreed on the child support. While i know he wasnt technically 'supposed' to help, i guess i figured with him knowing all the extra costs there are with her disabilites he would realize the need for it. But .. seeing how he stopped even paying child support, i guess it shouldnt be too much of a surprise ..lol

would you mind a pm ? i have another question that id like to ask along with something i received today maybe you could give me advice on ?

thanks