Income and large purchases

[2boys]

What is the name of your state? Ohio

I don't understand the Child support system. My children's father cried broke in 2001 saying he was self-employed and only making $16,000/year. I knew it was a lie but I had not way to prove it, I was told I would have to wait 3 years before any modifications could be made.
Now I find out that he purchased a home valued on the County Auditor's website, at $180,000.
Child support said so what.
There is a real possibility that he can walk in there and cry broke again and present them with those false papers again (has maintained that he is self-employed ever since I took him in for child support), and yet I'm questioning how anyone can afford a mortgage for a $180,000 home when they only make $16,000/year.
Why doesn't child support sniff out the obvious fishiness of this? Why do they not take things like this into consideration? He's going to lie again and I'll have no way to prove it - again! He knows how to work the system and it feels like they are willingly protecting him.
Compared to me and the children he is living in luxury.

 

[Gracie3787]

What is the name of your state? Ohio

I don't understand the Child support system. My children's father cried broke in 2001 saying he was self-employed and only making $16,000/year. I knew it was a lie but I had not way to prove it, I was told I would have to wait 3 years before any modifications could be made.
Now I find out that he purchased a home valued on the County Auditor's website, at $180,000.
Child support said so what.
There is a real possibility that he can walk in there and cry broke again and present them with those false papers again (has maintained that he is self-employed ever since I took him in for child support), and yet I'm questioning how anyone can afford a mortgage for a $180,000 home when they only make $16,000/year.
Why doesn't child support sniff out the obvious fishiness of this? Why do they not take things like this into consideration? He's going to lie again and I'll have no way to prove it - again! He knows how to work the system and it feels like they are willingly protecting him.
Compared to me and the children he is living in luxury.

Since it's been more than 3 years, you can file for a modification. You can subpoena his financial records, and when you go into court show the court that his expenses outweigh his "claimed" income. The court might impute income to him. If you can, you should use an attorney, try calling your local Legal Aid office.

 

[2boys]

Yeah I called the child support office to get that started and then I called the attorney who also does child support cases. He basically said, if I'm talking about getting the child support now, a lien on the property means I'd have to wait til the house was sold and there's no telling when that would be and how much would come out of it.
The bank account subpeona (?) only works for one day. So if it goes into effect on a day when there's only $5 in the account, then that's it, and if the father is as wily as I know he is, he'll just close that account down and move monies somewhere else and hope I don't find them.
He said the best way is for me to know where he works.

But thank you for the suggestion of showing the child support people about his expenses and how they don't match income, but I get the sinking feeling they don't want to hear that.

 

[Some Random Guy]

I do not know if this is possible, so you may want to ask an attorney: One would assume that he didn't pay cash for this $180,000 home. If he has a mortgage, would it be posible to subpoena the lender to see the income/assets that he reported on the loan application?

 

[SingleMom67]

Yeah I called the child support office to get that started and then I called the attorney who also does child support cases. He basically said, if I'm talking about getting the child support now, a lien on the property means I'd have to wait til the house was sold and there's no telling when that would be and how much would come out of it.
The bank account subpeona (?) only works for one day. So if it goes into effect on a day when there's only $5 in the account, then that's it, and if the father is as wily as I know he is, he'll just close that account down and move monies somewhere else and hope I don't find them.
He said the best way is for me to know where he works.

But thank you for the suggestion of showing the child support people about his expenses and how they don't match income, but I get the sinking feeling they don't want to hear that.

Why would you want a lien on his house? Is he in arrears on his child support? If so, have you filed the necessary contempt charges first?

Also, I don't know who advised you that the bank account subpoena was only good for one day, but that's not true. It's how the subpoena is worded that dictates the time frame of information collected. You need the past three months statements. However, if he's being paid in cash in his business, there's no way of tracking that, especially if he doesn't deposit it. See if you can subpoena the lending documents for his mortgage.

 

[haiku]

What is the name of your state? Ohio

I don't understand the Child support system. My children's father cried broke in 2001 saying he was self-employed and only making $16,000/year. I knew it was a lie but I had not way to prove it, I was told I would have to wait 3 years before any modifications could be made.
Now I find out that he purchased a home valued on the County Auditor's website, at $180,000.
Child support said so what.
There is a real possibility that he can walk in there and cry broke again and present them with those false papers again (has maintained that he is self-employed ever since I took him in for child support), and yet I'm questioning how anyone can afford a mortgage for a $180,000 home when they only make $16,000/year.
Why doesn't child support sniff out the obvious fishiness of this? Why do they not take things like this into consideration? He's going to lie again and I'll have no way to prove it - again! He knows how to work the system and it feels like they are willingly protecting him.
Compared to me and the children he is living in luxury.

There are alot of reasons a person may have a 180,000 home (which in todays market is cheap cheap for even a starter home by the way...) hell starting out. there have been years our business has barely scraped that much and my home is more expensive than that. Just because a home lists at that price does not mean it sold for that price. Also if he has a spouse maybe she paid for it. If not maybe his parents gave him a huge down payment, who knows.....

The important thing is if its been 3 years you can attempt a modification. you should lok for your states guidelines and calculators, you want to know how your state figures support. You do not want to shoot yourself in the foot for example and end up having him be awarded a SMALLER payment for example than what you get now.

When dealing with the self employed it is important to get thier Tax returns, most courts like to see a few years so they are able to see a pattern of earning.

you want to see profit and loss statements, and all thier bank and financial statements.

no court will go on his word alone as ot what he makes he needs proof, and its up to you to make sure he produces it.

you mention putting a lein on the property-if he is current in support you have no grounds.

If he is not current, you would need to get a judgement of contempt for non payment and then you could put a lein on his property.

 

[nextwife]

Does he have a spouse who works? Heck, I bought a house worth MORE than that on just my income. He could make ZERO if his spouse is able to qualify for the payments. And, with many 5% or 80/20 loans, one can buy with almost NO downstroke. A $180,000 house is NOT a pricey property.