Being Sued for Breach Of Contrac

[CTU]

North Carolina

My son's mother and I separated 12/2011 and incorporated child custody and my support obligation into the agreement. It also stated the support amount can be evaluated every 3 years to recalculate if needed. This request was not made 12/2014. Since our agreement was not incorporated into our divorce decree it's nothing more than a mere contract. About 2 weeks ago I initiated a suit for child custody bc I'm seeking joint physical custody. We already share joint legal custody. Her attorney has now requested I submit my recent pay history stating her client desires an increase in child support. I declined to submit this since I had already initiated a suit to start mediation etc.. she has now filed suit to sue me for breach of contract for not turning over my pay information. In the agreement we filed it has a subsection that states in the event there is a dispute or misinterpretation of the agreement, the parties must attend mediation before filing a suit for enforcement of the order. Here are my questions..

1. I have started a suit filed with the clerk to start the process of mediation. Based on the fact she has bypassed the agreement to mediate and jump straight to a lawsuit can I file a motion to dismiss for her breach of contract.

2. If that's not an option am I even in breach of contract by failing to produce pay information? There was no request made 12/14 which was the first 3 years so in my mind it wouldn't be up to evaluate again until 12/17. The only change of circumstances she has had was her decision to build a new house and live outside her means. Can she make this request for increased support anytime she wants or does she have to wait for the next 3 year mark?

Before we go any further, what led up to you filing for joint custody ... and do you actually mean a true 50/50 timeshare? If so, what has changed?

 

[Jason654]

Yes I am seeking true 50/50 joint physical custody. Currently I have my son every other Friday-Wednesday. I'm simply asking for 2 additional nights. There have been several substantial changes in circumstances since filing the unincorporated separation agreement. My ex and I separated 6 months after our son was born so living under 2 roofs is all he has ever known. He turned 6 in January of this year which I think now is an appropriate age for him to spend equal time between us. I remarried in 2014, my wife and I live near my son's school, we have our own house, he has his own room, toys, clothes etc. He started kindergarten last year so he is now having to transition between households mid week which has an affect on his behavior bc he generally needs a day or so to transition. This is another reason I have requested every other Friday-Friday. This would give our son the weekend to transition. Lastly our son is a child of special needs most recently diagnosed legally blind. He requires a lot of one on one attention which I am able to provide due to him being the only child under my roof. His Mother has remarried in the last year and now has a new born to care for so that extra one on one attention is lacking from his mother. Lastly when we separated my job had me working a rotating dupont shift. Being a single father working that shift made it nearly impossible to share joint physical custody. I now work a set non rotating schedule and my wife works 8-5 so we are always available when my son is in our care.

 

[SESmama]

https://www2.ncdhhs.gov/info/olm/manuals/dss/cse/man/CSEcL-01.htm


REVIEW SELECTION CRITERIA

A review is appropriate if certain criteria are met.

Three-Year Reviews -

A open case is eligible for this review if:

1. It has been least three (3) years since the last review or modification of the support order was completed. To determine if a case meets this criteria, compare the date of the most recent order or review with the date of the request for review; and

2. The case has at least one (1) child who is younger than eighteen (18) years of age.


So it has been at least 3 years since the last review so yes, you do need to produce your pay stubs. It isn't you miss the 3 year mark you don't get a review for another 3 years.

 

[Jason654]

Since posting this thread I have learned about the 3 year year review of support. I have yet to hear an opinion of making a motion to dismiss based on her neglect of mediation and filing a law suit. The claim she is making falls into the definition of a dispute or disagreement of the agreed upon contract. I have taken the appropriate steps as outlined in the agreement by complying with mediation which we haven't yet done. Is this grounds to make a motion to dismiss and if so is there a ruling of reference for this? In regards to submitting my pay I have been with the same organization of employment for 11 years. At the time this request was made I was in the process of interviewing for a new job which I got. I do not start this job until 02/20. Would this not constitute a substantial change in circumstances due to the pay cut I am taking? Do the previous years of pay even factor in since I will now be making less? I was of the opinion that it would be best to address all areas of concern through mediation and if no agreement met then we could put our Fate in the hands of the Judge. I just don't see the purpose of her filing this lawsuit 2 weeks after being served with my civil summons to open a new case for custody. Am I wrong in what I am doing?

 

[Jason654]

Since posting this thread I have learned about the 3 year year review of support. I have yet to hear an opinion of making a motion to dismiss based on her neglect of mediation and filing a law suit. The claim she is making falls into the definition of a dispute or disagreement of the agreed upon contract. I have taken the appropriate steps as outlined in the agreement by complying with mediation which we haven't yet done. Is this grounds to make a motion to dismiss and if so is there a ruling of reference for this? In regards to submitting my pay I have been with the same organization of employment for 11 years. At the time this request was made I was in the process of interviewing for a new job which I got. I do not start this job until 02/20. Would this not constitute a substantial change in circumstances due to the pay cut I am taking? Do the previous years of pay even factor in since I will now be making less? I was of the opinion that it would be best to address all areas of concern through mediation and if no agreement met then we could put our Fate in the hands of the Judge. I just don't see the purpose of her filing this lawsuit 2 weeks after being served with my civil summons to open a new case for custody. Am I wrong in what I am doing?

 

[Insane Jane]

Since posting this thread I have learned about the 3 year year review of support. I have yet to hear an opinion of making a motion to dismiss based on her neglect of mediation and filing a law suit. The claim she is making falls into the definition of a dispute or disagreement of the agreed upon contract. I have taken the appropriate steps as outlined in the agreement by complying with mediation which we haven't yet done. Is this grounds to make a motion to dismiss and if so is there a ruling of reference for this? In regards to submitting my pay I have been with the same organization of employment for 11 years. At the time this request was made I was in the process of interviewing for a new job which I got. I do not start this job until 02/20. Would this not constitute a substantial change in circumstances due to the pay cut I am taking? Do the previous years of pay even factor in since I will now be making less? I was of the opinion that it would be best to address all areas of concern through mediation and if no agreement met then we could put our Fate in the hands of the Judge. I just don't see the purpose of her filing this lawsuit 2 weeks after being served with my civil summons to open a new case for custody. Am I wrong in what I am doing?

My advice would have to be to seek the advice of a divorce lawyer. Changing jobs with a cut in pay at the time they are asking for pay stubs doesn't pass the sniff test and may justify the professional advice.

 

[Jason654]

I would respectfully disagree with your sniff test response but thank you. The responses provided in this thread have only been focusing in on one particular point (child support) and not the totality of circumstances surrounding this particularly case. Thank you for advising me to seek an attorney I honestly hadn't thought of that**************. I think by reading this thread any reasonable person would be correct to assume I am representing myself hence the reason I even proposed my questions on a free legal advice forum. The core question has still yet to be answered in regards to filing a motion to dismiss. I will just go with my own intuition and file the motion in my answer and hope for the best.

 

[CTU]

I would respectfully disagree with your sniff test response but thank you. The responses provided in this thread have only been focusing in on one particular point (child support) and not the totality of circumstances surrounding this particularly case. Thank you for advising me to seek an attorney I honestly hadn't thought of that**************. I think by reading this thread any reasonable person would be correct to assume I am representing myself hence the reason I even proposed my questions on a free legal advice forum. The core question has still yet to be answered in regards to filing a motion to dismiss. I will just go with my own intuition and file the motion in my answer and hope for the best.

I simply cannot understand how you've gotten yourself into this mess.

Oh. Wait.

 

[Jason654]

It's quite apparent that your knowledge is limited which is probably why you answer in the way you have. Extremely unprofessional and pretty pathetic.

 

[stealth2]

It's quite apparent that your knowledge is limited which is probably why you answer in the way you have. Extremely unprofessional and pretty pathetic.

Then dig into your pocket and pay a lawyer for a consult. And, perhaps take a moment from your day to read the terms of service. You know, the ones you agreed to.

 

[stealth2]

North Carolina

My son's mother and I separated 12/2011 and incorporated child custody and my support obligation into the agreement. It also stated the support amount can be evaluated every 3 years to recalculate if needed. This request was not made 12/2014. Since our agreement was not incorporated into our divorce decree it's nothing more than a mere contract. About 2 weeks ago I initiated a suit for child custody bc I'm seeking joint physical custody. We already share joint legal custody. Her attorney has now requested I submit my recent pay history stating her client desires an increase in child support. I declined to submit this since I had already initiated a suit to start mediation etc.. she has now filed suit to sue me for breach of contract for not turning over my pay information. In the agreement we filed it has a subsection that states in the event there is a dispute or misinterpretation of the agreement, the parties must attend mediation before filing a suit for enforcement of the order. Here are my questions..

1. I have started a suit filed with the clerk to start the process of mediation. Based on the fact she has bypassed the agreement to mediate and jump straight to a lawsuit can I file a motion to dismiss for her breach of contract.

2. If that's not an option am I even in breach of contract by failing to produce pay information? There was no request made 12/14 which was the first 3 years so in my mind it wouldn't be up to evaluate again until 12/17. The only change of circumstances she has had was her decision to build a new house and live outside her means. Can she make this request for increased support anytime she wants or does she have to wait for the next 3 year mark?

If the CS is not part of the original order, as you seem to indicate, she is filing for an inirial order of support. Nothing wrong with that.

And honestly? A judge will not view your taking a lower paying job kindly.

You are welcome.

 

[Jason654]

Everyone is a comedian.. I made a mistake thinking I could bounce some ideas off some mature knowledgeable people but clearly I was wrong. Having been around the court system in my job over the last 11 years I have learned that attorneys are an overpaid resource that you blindly pay thousands of dollars to do a Job you could have easily done yourself. I am much more verse in criminal law so I am trying to learn as much as I can pertaining to civil. My mistake was using this forum as a resource.

To Mr Stealth which is such a juvenile screen name. You should keep your assumptions to yourself and more importantly just shut up unless you have something productive to say. This isn't a matter of me not wanting to abide by a contract. This is about doing what is best for my 6 year old son who is blind and is of special needs. His current situation needs improvement and I am doing everything in my legal right to make sure his life has as little disruption as possible bc he already has so much to deal with. You Mr Stealth are more than welcome to pick up some of his medical expenses so I can afford an attorney since you feel the need to input your sarcastic juvenile comment. If you want to bash folks and pretend to be something your obviously not then do it on another site bc this isn't where you need to be.

 

[Jason654]

And for clarification I didn't take a lower paying job for the purpose of paying a less amount of child support.. where do you guys come up with this? I work in the field of Law Enforcement which isn't the best paying job. I switched to a different agency bc the benefits were much better. Unfortunately I had to take a significant pay cut bc I'm starting new with a new agency but under no circumstances did I do this bc of child support. This law suit that my child's Mother was filed just 2 weeks ago. 3 weeks I had her served with a summons to address our custodial agreement. This was clearly a retaliatory suit. I interviewed for this new job September 2016 months prior to any of this being initiated. There is absolutely no point in getting all the information together for the purpose of re calculation when everything is about to change which would cause us to do it yet again bc the pay and insurance are different and there are also some things such as child care etc that will have to be taken into consideration. Remember this hasn't been addressed once since filed in 2011... my son was 6 months at the time he is now 6 years old.

 

[Just Blue]

Everyone is a comedian.. I made a mistake thinking I could bounce some ideas off some mature knowledgeable people but clearly I was wrong. Having been around the court system in my job over the last 11 years I have learned that attorneys are an overpaid resource that you blindly pay thousands of dollars to do a Job you could have easily done yourself. I am much more verse in criminal law so I am trying to learn as much as I can pertaining to civil. My mistake was using this forum as a resource.

To Mr Stealth which is such a juvenile screen name. You should keep your assumptions to yourself and more importantly just shut up unless you have something productive to say. This isn't a matter of me not wanting to abide by a contract. This is about doing what is best for my 6 year old son who is blind and is of special needs. His current situation needs improvement and I am doing everything in my legal right to make sure his life has as little disruption as possible bc he already has so much to deal with. You Mr Stealth are more than welcome to pick up some of his medical expenses so I can afford an attorney since you feel the need to input your sarcastic juvenile comment. If you want to bash folks and pretend to be something your obviously not then do it on another site bc this isn't where you need to be.

Wow. Frightening to think you are a cop.

Please take your questions to an Attorney.