Child support questions

[thedenzo]

What is the name of your state? John / NJ
Im in the middle of a custody and visitation battle in NJ. My wife which will soon be my ex wife took the kids out of NJ where they were born in, lived since they were born and left to NY where her family lives. She does not want to let me have the children for a overnight stay which forced me to take her to court in NJ. She filed for child support in NY. Our court date for joint custody and visitation is in about a month, her date for the child support in NY is in about 2 months. My question is what are the child support rates in NY and in NJ, which is lower. I make about 250 a week and cant really afford to pay for child support since I was planning on returning to school. Can she take me to child support in NY even though the children are still under NJ juristiction? Any advice is appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

 

[CJane]

How long was she living in NY before she filed for CS?
Before you filed for divorce?

Calculator for NY
http://www.alllaw.com/calculators/childsupport/new_york/

Calculator for NJ
http://www.alllaw.com/calculators/childsupport/new_jersey/

Child support in NY goes to age 21.

I don't know how old your kids are, but this is directly from the guidelines that NJ uses

17. Adjustments for the Age of the Children - The child support schedules are based on childrearing expenditures averaged across the entire age range of zero through 17 years (total expenditures divided by 18 years). This averaging means that awards for younger children are slightly overstated due to the higher level of expenditures for older children. If an award is entered while the child is very young and continues through age 18, the net effect is negligible. However, initial awards for children in their teens are underestimated by the averaging and should be adjusted upward to compensate for this effect. Due to limitations of the CEX and the Rothbarth estimator, a separate marginal cost for teen-aged children could not be estimated. Based on Dr. Thomas Espenshade's 1980 CEX study, the cost of children aged 12 through 17 was 14.6% above the average expenditures. Therefore, if the initial child support order is entered when a child is 12 years of age or older, that order and all subsequent orders shall be adjusted upward by 14.6% Whenever the 14.6% adjustment is made, it should be noted in the guidelines worksheet or in the support order. This will clarify the basis of the order for future modifications or appeals

18. College or Other Post-Secondary Education Expenses - These child support guidelines are intended to apply to children who are less than 18 years of age or more than 18 years of age but still attending high school or a similar secondary educational institution. For the reasons set forth below, the Appendix IX-F support schedules shall not be used to determine parental contributions for college or other post-secondary education (hereafter college) expenses nor the amount of support for a child attending college. The child support guidelines may be applied in the court’s discretion to support for students over 18 years of age who commute to college.

 

[thedenzo]

She left in late July and filed in October. She has lived her entire life in NY before getting together with me. She filed for child support after she found out about the court case for visitation and joint custody.

Are the children bound to the NY or NJ laws? She plans to live in NY.

 

[jbowman]

The only thing that caught my eye here is the statement that you cant really afford to support your children. So what you are saying is that mom should raise these children on her own financially until they are grown? Cuz you feel like going back to school? Jeese guy... you may want to rethink that.

 

[thedenzo]

The only thing that caught my eye here is the statement that you cant really afford to support your children. So what you are saying is that mom should raise these children on her own financially until they are grown? Cuz you feel like going back to school? Jeese guy... you may want to rethink that.

Actually no, I am willing to support them, even if it means I need to get another job which is what I am planning on.

 

[CJane]

I'm actually a little (more than a little) unclear on how you were supporting a family on $13000/year.

 

[thedenzo]

Well actually I was making around 40,000 a year but switched to a new job right around the same time she left. I went through a deep depression when she left not allowing me to speak to or see my children, since I was forced to call the police on her. I missed work a couple days in a row and they then added me to part time instead of full time. Im currently looking for something new

 

[jbowman]

Actually no, I am willing to support them, even if it means I need to get another job which is what I am planning on.

Wait... huh??? But you said this in your first post:

I make about 250 a week and cant really afford to pay for child support since I was planning on returning to school.

 

[CJane]

Well actually I was making around 40,000 a year but switched to a new job right around the same time she left. I went through a deep depression when she left not allowing me to speak to or see my children, since I was forced to call the police on her. I missed work a couple days in a row and they then added me to part time instead of full time. Im currently looking for something new

Expect your child support (in either state) to be based on what you are capable of making... which is $40K... not what you ARE making. You will be seen as voluntarily under-employed.