Is this accurate? Other options?

[Zigner]

I don't think my ex went to mediation in good faith ...

It sounds to me like that's your take on it only because you're not getting your way. Refusing to agree with you does not mean that he didn't enter mediation in good faith.

 

[LdiJ]

It sounds to me like that's your take on it only because you're not getting your way. Refusing to agree with you does not mean that he didn't enter mediation in good faith.

I dunno, insisting on receipts doesn't really sound to me like negotiating in good faith.

 

[Eekamouse]

Why shouldn't she provide receipts?

 

[rachelr1978]

Why shouldn't she provide receipts?

Because it's a pain to do - keep, maintain, scan/photo copy and send and then wait for reimbursement. It would be far easier to have the money already in my account for me to manage/save/spend as appropriate.

How difficult is it in Texas to push for a change like this one year in? In the past, when there has been a large expense, and i've supplied receipts he has paypal'd me the money so I assume thats what he wants in lieu of garnishment. Regardless, I'm curious what is involved to justify such a change.

 

[LdiJ]

Why shouldn't she provide receipts?

Because the law doesn't require parents to provide receipts in order to get child support. You know that.

 

[LdiJ]

Because it's a pain to do - keep, maintain, scan/photo copy and send and then wait for reimbursement. It would be far easier to have the money already in my account for me to manage/save/spend as appropriate.

How difficult is it in Texas to push for a change like this one year in? In the past, when there has been a large expense, and i've supplied receipts he has paypal'd me the money so I assume thats what he wants in lieu of garnishment. Regardless, I'm curious what is involved to justify such a change.

What is your actual timeshare? Who has the higher income? Why did you hire an attorney to get child support rather than go through the AG's office?

 

[rachelr1978]

What is your actual timeshare? Who has the higher income? Why did you hire an attorney to get child support rather than go through the AG's office?

The decree states 50/50 but in actuality he has them every Thursday morning thru Friday evening and on his weekends (every other weekend) he has them Thursday Morning to Sunday evening.

I make more than he does - by about 15K.

I hired an attorney as the original decree states no child support requested. I've since changed my mind about a year in - I think it will be beneficial to have it available and to use as needed. As per our decree, we have to mediate discrepancies first if there's a disagreement and that has been done and no resolution was reached. As such, I have to determine if I want to proceed - my attorney believes he will fight this and given that he has been always reliable and pays for expensive items when requested and when provdied with a receipt if I should rock the boat so to speak. Can I skip directly to the AG? I didn't know that was an option.

 

[stealth2]

It sounds to me like that's your take on it only because you're not getting your way. Refusing to agree with you does not mean that he didn't enter mediation in good faith.

Agreed.

The decree states 50/50 but in actuality he has them every Thursday morning thru Friday evening and on his weekends (every other weekend) he has them Thursday Morning to Sunday evening.

I make more than he does - by about 15K.

I hired an attorney as the original decree states no child support requested. I've since changed my mind about a year in - I think it will be beneficial to have it available and to use as needed. As per our decree, we have to mediate discrepancies first if there's a disagreement and that has been done and no resolution was reached. As such, I have to determine if I want to proceed - my attorney believes he will fight this and given that he has been always reliable and pays for expensive items when requested and when provdied with a receipt if I should rock the boat so to speak. Can I skip directly to the AG? I didn't know that was an option.

Have you run the CS calculator? I would. And then weigh how it plays out - you may find (or not) that the numbers don't come out in your favor. Especially if you add in legal fees. Which may be significant should he fight your requests.

You should be aware that he may no longer be willing to pay for "expensive items" - I surely wouldn't suggest he do so, absent a court order. So think carefully if you will find yourself in better shape.

At the end of the day? Be careful what you wish for.

 

[Taxing Matters]

Bankruptcy attorneys too. I know of one who filed bankruptcy for a client 3 days before an 80k tax debt could have been discharged.

That's likely malpractice. The provisions relating to when taxes are eligible for discharge are provided in the bankruptcy code, not the tax code, and the bankruptcy lawyer should be familiar with that; that's within his/her area of practice. The bankruptcy attorney just needs to gather the right facts — the dates the returns were filed and the dates of assessment of the taxes owed when the debt is income tax. To the extent that there is any uncertainty over those facts the bankruptcy lawyer should know to consult a tax lawyer or other tax expert. So I see that as a pretty egregious error by the bankruptcy attorney unless either his client failed to tell him of the tax liability or there was some more important consideration that dictated when the petition had to be filed.

This is unlike the situation I often see in family law matters where the family law attorney just isn't even aware of the tax issues because it's outside his/her area of practice. That, too, might still amount to malpractice, but isn't quite as blatant a screw up, IMO.

 

[LdiJ]

That's likely malpractice. The provisions relating to when taxes are eligible for discharge are provided in the bankruptcy code, not the tax code, and the bankruptcy lawyer should be familiar with that; that's within his/her area of practice. The bankruptcy attorney just needs to gather the right facts — the dates the returns were filed and the dates of assessment of the taxes owed when the debt is income tax. To the extent that there is any uncertainty over those facts the bankruptcy lawyer should know to consult a tax lawyer or other tax expert. So I see that as a pretty egregious error by the bankruptcy attorney unless either his client failed to tell him of the tax liability or there was some more important consideration that dictated when the petition had to be filed.

This is unlike the situation I often see in family law matters where the family law attorney just isn't even aware of the tax issues because it's outside his/her area of practice. That, too, might still amount to malpractice, but isn't quite as blatant a screw up, IMO.

I once had an argument with a family law lawyer for over 30 minutes. He insisted that the state court judge had the authority to order that the non-custodial parent get earned income credit for the children as well as some other things that only the custodial parent could receive and couldn't waive away with form 8332. He did not want to remove that wording in the agreement he had written up. He finally said that the only way he would change the wording was to say that the non-custodial parent was entitled to all possible tax attributes for the child available under the law.

 

[Zigner]

Because the law doesn't require parents to provide receipts in order to get child support. You know that.

We're not talking about receipts for "child support" - we're talking about receipts for reimbursable items (shared health-care costs, etc.)

 

[LdiJ]

The decree states 50/50 but in actuality he has them every Thursday morning thru Friday evening and on his weekends (every other weekend) he has them Thursday Morning to Sunday evening.

I make more than he does - by about 15K.

I hired an attorney as the original decree states no child support requested. I've since changed my mind about a year in - I think it will be beneficial to have it available and to use as needed. As per our decree, we have to mediate discrepancies first if there's a disagreement and that has been done and no resolution was reached. As such, I have to determine if I want to proceed - my attorney believes he will fight this and given that he has been always reliable and pays for expensive items when requested and when provdied with a receipt if I should rock the boat so to speak. Can I skip directly to the AG? I didn't know that was an option.

That sounds more like Texas Standard visitation than a 50/50 timeshare. That is only 4 nights for him out of 14 if I am counting correctly. Are you sure that your agreement actually says 50/50 Legal AND physical? Has your attorney looked at the actual agreement and expressed an opinion?

Skipping directly to the AG for child support was always an option. It might however, be too late now depending on how far along you are in your case.

I will tell you however, if you had a true 50/50 timeshare or very close to one, then I would be advising you to drop the whole idea of child support. Since you make 15k more than dad, if your timeshare was a true 50/50 one, you would be the one paying child support, not dad.

 

[torimac]

In most circumstances in TX, child support is a percentage of the NPC income, not a shared income calculation. So in this case, it may not matter that she makes more. A judge may alter the percentage for 50/50 but it doesn't sound like they currently are doing 50/50, even though that's is what is in the agreement.