Ex wants more

[MJA89]

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

18 months following the final judgment on our divorce, my X wants more CS. I pay for our daughter, per our agreement, a specified amount based on the ratio of individual income to total combined income. For the calculation, my X's individual income is the support I pay her. The divorce was hard on my daughter (she is a teen), and until very recently, she did not want any contact with me. My X did nothing to help the situation. To compound things, I am in the military and live out of the state. My daughter and I now speak frequently, but visitation is difficult with my schedule, her schedule etc. Now my X is demanding more CS because I do not see my daughter enough. She claims that in addition to what I pay her, I am responsible for an additional 30%. Her reasoning is that, if my daughter was visiting me, I would be providing her support during the visits. Since she does not visit me that often, I should be paying more. Does this make sense, or is CS in FL based solely on the ratio of income?

 

[LdiJ]

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

18 months following the final judgment on our divorce, my X wants more CS. I pay for our daughter, per our agreement, a specified amount based on the ratio of individual income to total combined income. For the calculation, my X's individual income is the support I pay her. The divorce was hard on my daughter (she is a teen), and until very recently, she did not want any contact with me. My X did nothing to help the situation. To compound things, I am in the military and live out of the state. My daughter and I now speak frequently, but visitation is difficult with my schedule, her schedule etc. Now my X is demanding more CS because I do not see my daughter enough. She claims that in addition to what I pay her, I am responsible for an additional 30%. Her reasoning is that, if my daughter was visiting me, I would be providing her support during the visits. Since she does not visit me that often, I should be paying more. Does this make sense, or is CS in FL based solely on the ratio of income?

Parenting time does factor into child support calculations in most states. Google an online child support calculator for FL...the official one if one exists and you can find it. That will tell you whether or not it factors in for FL.

 

[nextwife]

Additionally, whether it NOW makes a difference depends on whether the current CS was already calculated based on the most minimal timeshare. If it was, the current timeshare would not impact CS.

 

[CJane]

Are you saying that the amount used in the calculation as Mom's income is the CHILD support you pay her? Or the SPOUSAL support you pay her?

Were there attorneys representing either of you in the divorce?

 

[TinkerBelleLuvr]

There is a threshhold limit that must be met for a change in support. It is usually a dollar amount or percentage that must be exceeded. Unless someone has had a significant change in monies earned, the time share difference probably will NOT equate to mom's wishes.

 

[CJane]

There is a threshhold limit that must be met for a change in support. It is usually a dollar amount or percentage that must be exceeded. Unless someone has had a significant change in monies earned, the time share difference probably will NOT equate to mom's wishes.

Do you know if there's an exception for it never being calculated properly to begin with?

That's why I asked the question about what was used as Mom's income.

 

[TinkerBelleLuvr]

For the calculation, my X's individual income is the support I pay her.

I'm assuming that this is the murky statement to which you allude. It doesn't make sense.

What was each person's income that was included in the calculations?

 

[mistoffolees]

Parenting time does factor into child support calculations in most states. Google an online child support calculator for FL...the official one if one exists and you can find it. That will tell you whether or not it factors in for FL.

FL is here:
Florida Child Support Calculator - AllLaw.com

(Interestingly, the FL department of revenue's web site doesn't have a calculator and refers you to the above site. Seems odd that they'd send you to a third party rather than providing the information. Maybe the DFS site has a calculator - I didn't look).

Parenting time does not enter into the calculation in FL.

 

[mistoffolees]

Do you know if there's an exception for it never being calculated properly to begin with?

That's why I asked the question about what was used as Mom's income.

FL has a site on modifying CS. You might find the answer there:
FL Dept Rev - Modification of Child Support Orders

 

[MJA89]

Clarification:

My (NCP) income was used as the total income, for my X's individual income, we used the spousal support I pay her and for my individual income we used total minus the spousal support.

Nowhere in our agreement did we state anything about specific timeshare with our daughter.

I checked the Florida statutes. The only time timeshare is used is when the NCP has the child for a significant number of overnights, then the calculation is used to modify the CS to the favor of the NCP.

I was just wondering if I was missing something since my X claims her lawyer is encouraging her to take me to court to modify payments.

 

[LdiJ]

Clarification:

My (NCP) income was used as the total income, for my X's individual income, we used the spousal support I pay her and for my individual income we used total minus the spousal support.

Nowhere in our agreement did we state anything about specific timeshare with our daughter.

I checked the Florida statutes. The only time timeshare is used is when the NCP has the child for a significant number of overnights, then the calculation is used to modify the CS to the favor of the NCP.

I was just wondering if I was missing something since my X claims her lawyer is encouraging her to take me to court to modify payments.

The only way I could see he attorney encouraging her is if they believe your income has significantly increased, or your child support was set below guideline to start with.

 

[TinkerBelleLuvr]

Never take legal advice from your X. She can be STATING that her attorney said she could do this. She could be misinterpreting the area of shared parenting time as that she can get more.

If there has been no substantial change, then, it won't fly.

 

[MJA89]

I do think she is bluffing, but wanted to check.

I did recently get promoted, which increased my income by about 10-15%. If she pushes for a modification based on my increased income, will the court take into account that she now has income of her own in addition to the spousal support I give her?
I am pretty certain that she is making, on her own, significantly more than the 10-15% increase I receive with my promotion. And if that is the case, could the court, even though she initiated the review, order the CS to decrease? I have no intention to reduce what I am paying, but if that is a possibility it may explain why I'm getting threats via email from my X rather than a legitimate modification request.

Thank you all for the prompt responses. This site continues to provide a great service in reducing anxiety during and after divorce.

 

[majomom1]

Clarification:


I was just wondering if I was missing something since my X claims her lawyer is encouraging her to take me to court to modify payments.

Has your income increased since then? That could be one possible reason she is seeking more.

Does the Mom work? Is she capable of working? It might be possible to impute an income for her, in addition to the spousal support she receives. It's worth looking into.

 

[haiku]

A read of the florida guidelines will tell you what percentage of increase or decrease will merit a change in child support.

SHe can certainly try to get an increase, doesn't always mean you get one.