ecastanedo said:
California
So both children live with us. They see their father every OTHER weekend (starting after school Friday and ending Monday morning when they get dropped off at school).
I am fine with that arrangement, but I am having trouble understanding something else regarding the judgment... and is there anything we can do about it if we feel we have a good case.
Basically, the judge awarded him credit from 6am to 2pm. Which I think is crazy, because they are in school. My wife does not work, so she is just as capable as him to have them during this time. As a matter of fact, we do have them with us from 6am until he comes by and insists on picking them up to drop them off at school, half a block away.
They never spend any weekdays or weeknights with him. They are with us always, unless it is his weekend, which again is every OTHER weekend.
So...
1) Why would he get credit for the time that they are in school? He works nights so can have them during the day, but so can my wife, because she does not work.
2) Is it me or does $160 a month seem like nothing in terms of child support?
It isn't really an issue of us paying for everything if we got credit for everything, but it seems kind of unfair that he gets the benefit of claiming that he has them during a time in which he does not and my wife is just as capable of having them. This minor difference, is making a huge difference in our wallets.
Basically, we feel like he is getting a free ride, because when it comes to his children, we are paying for EVERYTHING. I don't understand how someone who hardly sees his children should not be held to a higher responsibility for providing financially for them.
The argument that the judge made was that he pays for what he needs to when they are with him. If this is the case, then am I just naive in thinking that there is something wrong with not holding fathers (or mothers for that matter) accountable for having children and not providing for them?
As a step parent, you have no rights here. Take it from the many step parents here who know that. This is not about you, this is about your wife, her ex and their kids.
I don't understand exactly why you're so upset that he's paying support while she's not. She is not financially supporting her own kids. If he decided to be a stay at home parent, would that be ok with her? (or you for that matter?)
In CA, support is based on the net income of both parents and visitation/parenting time. CA uses a formula that you may be able to find online, called the Dissomaster.
Since the 6am to 2pm is part of his parenting time, he gets the credit for it. Maybe he could argue that your wife should not get credit for all the time the kids are in school, which would be 8 hours a day, 18 days a month (taking into account his every other weekend 16 hours of credit). Therefore she get's credit for having them during the time they are in school and she doesn't have them either. She gets credit for 144 hours a month when she doesn't actually have them, compared to his 16.
You say you think he's getting a free ride, but your wife is the one getting the free ride; you support her, you help support her kids, and he helps support the kids. She's not putting a dime into it. Yet she complains that he gets credit for a louse 16 hours a month while she gets credit for not even working at all. And he does pay for their needs when the kids are there, which is something your wife doesn't do.
If you look at this objectively, you'll see that I'm right. You'll also find out that if she goes for a support modification, he can insist, under CA law, that her income be imputed to what she could be making if she was working. Or, if he wants to get really upset, he can ask that your income be considered when the court figures support since she is voluntarily unemployed. This is rarely done, and don't think I mean that you will be paying him or anything, but you are supporting her, so you are her income. It can be done.
Look at this objectively.....