Need Advice on Child Support Change

[my life is mine]

Most CS cases now that go into court in VA are being sent to DCSEA for enforcement even if the paying paent has never been in arrears.

 

[VirginiaMom]

so you did the paperwork civil and the childrens' father agreed to the amount?

did you impute an income for yourself?

Yes - last time we did the change (after I went from independent contractor to employee), I did the paperwork, fedex'd to him, he signed & notarized, returned to me, and I filed it. It was based on actual salary for me, actual childcare, actual insurance cost, and just what he told me for his income (last year's salary, no bonus) because I have no choice but to go by what he tells me even when I know it's not accurate (ie, he had a part-time job also but never claimed it, and never will). I don't have access to his tax return, only his W-2 per our written agreement, so he just provides the one from his main source of income. That W-2 does reflect bonuses, but after the fact.

 

[VirginiaMom]

Most CS cases now that go into court in VA are being sent to DCSEA for enforcement even if the paying paent has never been in arrears.

That is good to know. Can anyone think of any disadvantages to this method? I am thinking it might embarrass him if it has to go through his HR dept, ie, as a wage garnishment -- but he might have the option to pay DCSEA directly, thus avoiding that? I don't want to cause trouble but think it would actually help us if we could just focus on our son and not the financial end, because it always makes him testy when I bring it up.

 

[Cainlord]

he should not be embarrassed, heck, I have more respect for someone who actually pays then a deadbeat trying to skip out. Probably more common these days anyway. For you, It actually may be better in the end to just go the DCSEA route and leave it there. Any issues pop up with it, you have that cover and can tell him to take it up with them. You two then can just focus on the child instead of who is getting paid what etc. Makes interaction better from what I can tell in my situation.

As for him getting testy, I am actually not surprised as most people who find that they are going to have to pay more for something due to the actions of a person they probably don't like will react that way, especially if he feels you keep going for modifications on a regular basis. Right or wrong, its a pretty common reaction. He may feel he pays enough, you may feel you need more. Do your best to not let it affect the child raising, which using DCSEA as cover can help.

Good luck!

 

[Isis1]

he should not be embarrassed, heck, I have more respect for someone who actually pays then a deadbeat trying to skip out. Probably more common these days anyway. For you, It actually may be better in the end to just go the DCSEA route and leave it there. Any issues pop up with it, you have that cover and can tell him to take it up with them. You two then can just focus on the child instead of who is getting paid what etc. Makes interaction better from what I can tell in my situation.

As for him getting testy, I am actually not surprised as most people who find that they are going to have to pay more for something due to the actions of a person they probably don't like will react that way, especially if he feels you keep going for modifications on a regular basis. Right or wrong, its a pretty common reaction. He may feel he pays enough, you may feel you need more. Do your best to not let it affect the child raising, which using DCSEA as cover can help.

Good luck!

it does!! it lets you point the finger of blame on a nuetral third party. it's horrible when it comes down to it, but when a person wants to blame someone, that anger can be directed somewhere else. and child support enforcement doesn't give a rat's patootie if you like them or not.

 

[my life is mine]

The only disadvantages are these: there is a charge to both CP and NCP, it is a small charge. Once a year 25.00 is deducted from received CS (so CP gets 25.00 less in I believe it is OCT.) NCP pays a service charge of a few dollars a month. The other is it takes whatever amount NCP pays a few days to clear through system then a few days before CP receives money

 

[VirginiaMom]

Thanks for all the input! It's worth the nominal fee the state charges to keep things on a more friendly basis between us.