Continue to try and get more money from me after divorce

[guitarjeff]

My state is CA. My divorce was finalized in Jan. 2011, was married for 16 years, after a year of battling with lawyers and court finally over with. I have 2 kids and I am paying child support and Alimony monthly payments. Now that I am Divorced can she continue to come after me for more money? She does not work at this time and I had her go through a vocational evaluator and proved she could work but so far she has not went to work. I generally get a small increase in pay on my yearly evaluations and she knows this, can she try and get more money from me or does she need a reason or prove she needs more money, just wondering how this works? What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[LdiJ]

My state is CA. My divorce was finalized in Jan. 2011, was married for 16 years, after a year of battling with lawyers and court finally over with. I have 2 kids and I am paying child support and Alimony monthly payments. Now that I am Divorced can she continue to come after me for more money? She does not work at this time and I had her go through a vocational evaluator and proved she coud work but so far she has not went to work. I generally get a small increase in pay on my yearly evaluations and she knows this, can she try and get more money from me or does she need a reason or prove she needs more money, just wondering how this works? What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

Child support is modifiable if there are changes in income or other circumstances so yes, its possible/likely that over the years, until your children age out, that child support would increase...or possibly even decrease, depending on the facts of the matter.

Alimony is generally more fixed for the term of the alimony, but you should get out your court orders and read over them to see if alimony is modifiable.

 

[mistoffolees]

My state is CA. My divorce was finalized in Jan. 2011, was married for 16 years, after a year of battling with lawyers and court finally over with. I have 2 kids and I am paying child support and Alimony monthly payments. Now that I am Divorced can she continue to come after me for more money? She does not work at this time and I had her go through a vocational evaluator and proved she could work but so far she has not went to work. I generally get a small increase in pay on my yearly evaluations and she knows this, can she try and get more money from me or does she need a reason or prove she needs more money, just wondering how this works? What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

How is she trying to come after you for more money? Has she filed something in court? Asked for Child Support Enforcement to re-evaluate child support? Or is she simply asking you to contribute more voluntarily?

 

[guitarjeff]

She is not asking for anything as of yet, I was just wondering in the future if she can ask for more money, my kids are 14, twins, so I guess for the next 4 years I was wondering if she could ask for more money. Also if she does ask for more money is it just simply filing paperwork through the court or will she or I have to get the lawyers involved again?

 

[mistoffolees]

She is not asking for anything as of yet, I was just wondering in the future if she can ask for more money, my kids are 14, twins, so I guess for the next 4 years I was wondering if she could ask for more money. Also if she does ask for more money is it just simply filing paperwork through the court or will she or I have to get the lawyers involved again?

See Ldij's response. If she asks for more CS on the basis of your greater income, requesting a modification is fairly simple - and might not require an attorney for either of you.

 

[ecmst12]

Generally though, it's not worth it to do a modification over a 3% raise. However if you get a promotion or a new job making a significant amount more, it might be worth it. And in some cases, there is a limit to how much time must pass before you can ask for a modification.

 

[mistoffolees]

Generally though, it's not worth it to do a modification over a 3% raise. However if you get a promotion or a new job making a significant amount more, it might be worth it. And in some cases, there is a limit to how much time must pass before you can ask for a modification.

No, but a few years at 3% could add up.