Use this site to calculate Califoria guideline child support:
http://www.childsup.ca.gov/Resources/CalculateChildSupport
This link takes you to the California Department of Child Support Services home page.
Click "Calculate Child Support" in the left menu bar that begins "I Need To..."
You'll need some basic financial information for each parent, such as monthly gross income (see my "What If She Quits Her Job" post if your ex used to work and is now unemployed), new spouse's monthly gross income (if applicable), mortgage interest and property taxes (also if applicable), Federal tax filing status, health insurance premiums, and uninsured health expenses. If you've been going through this process for a while, you may already have a copy of the other parent's Income and Expense Declaration, which should contain all of this information. If you don't know the other parent's property tax rate, you may be able to find it on your county assessor's website (like I did). Or try Googling your ex's address...you may be surprised at what you can find online.
I highly recommend that you take the time to run your numbers on the State's calculator even if you've already had an attorney run your Dissomaster. Here's why...
My husband and I consulted with his former attorney to get her advice concerning the ongoing difficulties we've been having with his insane ex (a.k.a. "the devil"). We were sick to our stomachs at the end of our consultation. By her calculations, even though my husband's percentage of parenting time has increased, and the devil has remarried, her household expenses have been cut in half, and her income and lifestyle exceeds ours, if she took him back to court for increased child support (as she's recently been threatening), he would be ordered to pay an additional $500 a month!!!
Luckily, I remembered seeing something about a "future link" to a child support calculator on our County Court's self-help site, and thought it would be interesting to run our own calculations and compare the results.
Why? Because even though she's a terrific attorney and seems to genuinely have ours and my husband's children's best interests at heart, she's first and foremost a business woman. She may enjoy helping people, but - ultimately - she's in it for the money. She needs to constantly drum up new business (i.e. new lawsuits). She's not going to make money by simply advising us to leave well enough alone.
During our consultation, she first told us about the potential for a significant increase in child support, and then advised us that the only sure way to prevent this was to increase my husband's parenting time. (It should be noted that the devil is a nut job, and the children have been psychologically damaged by her, but we've "played this game" long enough to know that that's not enough to be granted sole physical custody, and maybe not even an increase in parenting time.) She further advised us that we, of course, shouldn't attempt this on our own: that the services of a good attorney would be necessary. (Of course.)
My husband and I are not made of money, and we're talking a $6K+ child custody evaluation plus at least a $10K attorney retainer just to get things started.
(As an aside, a close friend of mine went through this process last year. His child custody evaluator recommended that he be granted sole legal and physical custody of his two children, and that his ex have supervised bi-monthly visits. It made no difference. The judge in his case ordered that custody would stay as it had been: shared legal and 50/50 physical. All that time, energy, stress and expense...and no change.)
Anyway, our results were vastly different from those we'd received at his attorney's office, even though we'd supposedly run the same data. In one scenario, my husband's support would decrease $49 a month; in another, by $21. In a third, it would increase $173 a month; and in the last, by $380...versus our attorney's increases of $500 in the first three scenarios and $136 in the fourth.
We feel MUCH better today knowing that there's a very good chance that should the devil take my husband back to court yet again, that we may once again come away relatively unscathed. Whew!
Check out the site...it's so worth your time. And it's FREE!!
Showing posts with label Child Support. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Child Support. Show all posts
Friday, August 26, 2011
Friday, January 1, 2010
Types of Custody: Shared Legal - Shared Physical - Shared Residency. Wait...What?!
(See 8/25/11 update at the end of this post.)
Do you and your ex share equal or near equal physical custody of your child(ren)? ... Yes?
Do you support your child(ren) in your household at or near the same level that your ex supports them in hers? ... Yes??
Does your ex now have a household income or lifestyle equal or nearly equal to, or even exceeding yours? ... Yes???
And despite all this, is your household deprived of a huge chunk of your taxable earnings each payday because they’re diverted from your paycheck to her household - tax-free to her? ... Yes????
Are you frustrated by having to support your child(ren) in your household and in hers? ... Hell yes?!!!!
Why are you paying so much?!
Do you support your child(ren) in your household at or near the same level that your ex supports them in hers? ... Yes??
Does your ex now have a household income or lifestyle equal or nearly equal to, or even exceeding yours? ... Yes???
And despite all this, is your household deprived of a huge chunk of your taxable earnings each payday because they’re diverted from your paycheck to her household - tax-free to her? ... Yes????
Are you frustrated by having to support your child(ren) in your household and in hers? ... Hell yes?!!!!
Why are you paying so much?!
Because no one’s ever told you about shared residency! That’s not surprising: we’d never heard of it, either. Not even after 7 years of this crap! Nope...not until I stumbled across the term a couple of weeks ago while researching child support! You got it! My husband’s highly-paid attorney never mentioned it once even though he was granted 46% physical custody! It apparently never occurred to her! (By the way: be sure to see my What Does Child Support Cover? post for a breakdown of just what child support is supposed to be used for...it's eye-opening! And, yes, this is another area that no one--not even my husband's attorney--thought to explain! Ugh!!)
So in addition to shared legal and shared physical custody, my husband has had shared residential custody without knowing that such a thing existed, as we, too, have his kids in our care often enough that we have to buy them furniture, bedding, clothes, shoes, school supplies, over-the-counter medicines, toiletries, laundry and cleaning supplies, etc., etc., etc. In fact, we spend an average of at least $5,000 a year for these types of expenses exclusively...AND we've been paying for 50% of their extracurricular activities...$900 just this year!...because no one has ever explained to my husband that he didn't have to! (I've since learned that, in general, the Court only ever orders the "non-custodial parent" to share in the cost of extracurricular activities if he or she is a millionaire, which we are not!!)
And here’s the kicker: the court has no idea we're doing this (not yet, anyway)! It just never occurred to them that my husband would have to share in these expenses when the kids are at our house for days on end! They just stupidly assumed that their mom would be the only one to incur these types of expenses, and that they would be covered with the child support my husband pays each month. They never once gave a second thought to the fact that my husband would have additional expenses…like clothes for the kids to wear at his house, or tooth brushes and toothpaste to brush their teeth at his house, or beds to sleep in at his house, or…well…you get the picture.
Once the Court is made aware of our situation, my husband's child support obligation will be dramatically reduced—and in all likelihood eliminated!
Craziness, huh?!
So what is shared residency? It's the regular sharing of residential custody on an equal or nearly equal basis. To qualify, two components must exist:
• First, the blocks of time must be regular and equal or nearly equal between the parents throughout the year rather than based on extended visitation (e.g. summer visitation, holidays).
• Second, the parties must be sharing direct expenses of the child on an equal or nearly equal basis, which include (but aren't limited to) clothing and education expenses, but don’t include food, transportation, housing or utilities.
Does this sound like you? Yes? Then I suggest you research this further on your own, and then do something about it (e.g., contact an attorney or your family court's self-help center for advice and assistance).
Let me know if you have any specific questions...I may be able to help. And good luck!
8/25/11 Update: We consulted with my husband's former attorney to discuss shared residential custody (among other issues) and were told that California does not recognize shared residential custody; that guideline child support is based solely on each parent's income. That being said, while I trust my husband's former attorney, I'm not convinced that the information she gave us is accurate. First, when I research an issue, I limit my research to the State of California. Second, it has been our firsthand experience that factors beyond income are considered when setting guideline child support (e.g. percentage of parenting time, income-to-debt ratio). Third, between my extensive research and my personal observations and experiences, I've found evidence that completely contradicts her statement. Obvsiously there is more research to be done on this issue, and I will update this post with my findings. In the meantime, be aware that shared residential custody does exist, and be sure to raise this issue with your ex when discussing a fair support amount (if you're able to work things out between yourselves) or with an attorney if you choose to consult with one. Stay tuned...
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Your Ex and Your Bonus
Pretty amazing, huh? You really are expected to share your bonus with your ex! I know, I think that’s a bunch of hooey, too!
But here’s something CRITICAL to consider right off the bat: are your bonuses included in your W-2? This is important because your support payments are based on your gross W-2 earnings, and if your bonus is already included in your W-2 AND you’re ordered to pay her a percentage of your bonus, then you’re paying her TWICE for your bonus!!!
It’s not likely that anyone else will raise this issue (no one did in our case…or should I say, no one but ME!), so be prepared to raise it yourself.
Here’s our tale of woe:
My husband’s 7/23/03 Order After Hearing stipulated: “7. In the event Respondent receives any future bonus income as a result of employment, he shall pay to Petitioner an additional support amount equal to 23% of such bonus within 10 days of the date on which he receives any such bonus.”
He did as ordered and paid THE DEVIL 23%—or $1,120.79—of his 2003 bonus on 2/16/04, which he’d received on 2/6/04. But this order was stipulated in error. He should never have been ordered to pay THE DEVIL any part of his annual bonuses because they're already included in his W-2s and, as such, are already factored in to his monthly support payments. (!!!) This error wasn’t brought to his attention until I questioned it in 1/05. His attorney didn’t question it, the judge didn’t question it...and even he didn’t question it. In fact, no one considered that his bonus might already be included in his W-2!
This order was reversed in his 1/25/05 Order After Settlement Conference: "5. The order after hearing filed in this matter on 7/25/03, which sets forth the current support orders, requires Respondent to pay Petitioner 23% of any bonus income he receives. Respondent contends that his bonus income is included in the calculation of his gross wages and that to require him to pay an additional 23% of any bonus he receives results in a double calculation for that income for support purposes. Accordingly, Respondent’s obligation to pay Petitioner 23% of his bonus income is hereby stayed without prejudice…"
And while it is absolutely, 100% true that my husband's bonuses are, in fact, included in the calculation of his gross wages, it’s also very interesting to note that at no time was he ever made to substantiate this claim (note the language of his order: “Respondent contends that this bonus income is included in the calculation of his gross wages…”). Hmmm…
He, of course, was not reimbursed for any part of his $1,120.79 overpayment to THE DEVIL.
But here’s something CRITICAL to consider right off the bat: are your bonuses included in your W-2? This is important because your support payments are based on your gross W-2 earnings, and if your bonus is already included in your W-2 AND you’re ordered to pay her a percentage of your bonus, then you’re paying her TWICE for your bonus!!!
It’s not likely that anyone else will raise this issue (no one did in our case…or should I say, no one but ME!), so be prepared to raise it yourself.
Here’s our tale of woe:
My husband’s 7/23/03 Order After Hearing stipulated: “7. In the event Respondent receives any future bonus income as a result of employment, he shall pay to Petitioner an additional support amount equal to 23% of such bonus within 10 days of the date on which he receives any such bonus.”
He did as ordered and paid THE DEVIL 23%—or $1,120.79—of his 2003 bonus on 2/16/04, which he’d received on 2/6/04. But this order was stipulated in error. He should never have been ordered to pay THE DEVIL any part of his annual bonuses because they're already included in his W-2s and, as such, are already factored in to his monthly support payments. (!!!) This error wasn’t brought to his attention until I questioned it in 1/05. His attorney didn’t question it, the judge didn’t question it...and even he didn’t question it. In fact, no one considered that his bonus might already be included in his W-2!
This order was reversed in his 1/25/05 Order After Settlement Conference: "5. The order after hearing filed in this matter on 7/25/03, which sets forth the current support orders, requires Respondent to pay Petitioner 23% of any bonus income he receives. Respondent contends that his bonus income is included in the calculation of his gross wages and that to require him to pay an additional 23% of any bonus he receives results in a double calculation for that income for support purposes. Accordingly, Respondent’s obligation to pay Petitioner 23% of his bonus income is hereby stayed without prejudice…"
And while it is absolutely, 100% true that my husband's bonuses are, in fact, included in the calculation of his gross wages, it’s also very interesting to note that at no time was he ever made to substantiate this claim (note the language of his order: “Respondent contends that this bonus income is included in the calculation of his gross wages…”). Hmmm…
He, of course, was not reimbursed for any part of his $1,120.79 overpayment to THE DEVIL.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Does My Girlfriend/Wife’s Earnings Count Toward My Support Payments?
I know that most of you will find this shocking (NOT!), but the devil actually tried to increase my husband’s support payments based on MY earnings.
At that time, I was a single mom, working full time to provide the sole support of my THREE children. And, yes, SHE KNEW THIS!!!
And not that it would've changed the outcome, but my (now) husband and I weren't even engaged and, in fact, didn't even live together yet. And, again, it wouldn't have changed anything, but once we did move in together, we maintained separate banking and credit accounts, didn't combine our incomes, and (except for rent and utilities) didn't share expenses.
So how do we know that it tried to pull this? Because, in addition to numerous verbal inquiries made to my husband, it also made at least two written inquiries to its attorney...which it stupidly and eagerly shared with us!
Well, thank goodness for Senate Bill No. 145:
In re the Marriage of LINDA MICHELE and PAUL LOUIS ROMERO, No. E030759, COURT OF APPEAL OF CALIFORNIA, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT, DIVISION TWO, 99 Cal. App. 4th 1436; July 11, 2002, Decided; July 11, 2002, Filed. “In 1993, however, the Legislature … passed Senate Bill No. 145, which added subdivision (b) to Family Code section 4323. That provision, which became effective in 1994, consisted of the following limitation: "The income of a supporting spouse's subsequent spouse or nonmarital partner shall not be considered when determining or modifying spousal support. … In addition to adding subdivision (b) to Family Code section 4323, Senate Bill No. 145 made similar amendments to the child support provisions."
So, to answer your question: "NO, your girlfriend/wife’s earnings can NOT be used in establishing your child and/or spousal support payment amounts"!
At that time, I was a single mom, working full time to provide the sole support of my THREE children. And, yes, SHE KNEW THIS!!!
And not that it would've changed the outcome, but my (now) husband and I weren't even engaged and, in fact, didn't even live together yet. And, again, it wouldn't have changed anything, but once we did move in together, we maintained separate banking and credit accounts, didn't combine our incomes, and (except for rent and utilities) didn't share expenses.
So how do we know that it tried to pull this? Because, in addition to numerous verbal inquiries made to my husband, it also made at least two written inquiries to its attorney...which it stupidly and eagerly shared with us!
Well, thank goodness for Senate Bill No. 145:
In re the Marriage of LINDA MICHELE and PAUL LOUIS ROMERO, No. E030759, COURT OF APPEAL OF CALIFORNIA, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT, DIVISION TWO, 99 Cal. App. 4th 1436; July 11, 2002, Decided; July 11, 2002, Filed. “In 1993, however, the Legislature … passed Senate Bill No. 145, which added subdivision (b) to Family Code section 4323. That provision, which became effective in 1994, consisted of the following limitation: "The income of a supporting spouse's subsequent spouse or nonmarital partner shall not be considered when determining or modifying spousal support. … In addition to adding subdivision (b) to Family Code section 4323, Senate Bill No. 145 made similar amendments to the child support provisions."
So, to answer your question: "NO, your girlfriend/wife’s earnings can NOT be used in establishing your child and/or spousal support payment amounts"!
Your Ex Was Awarded the House?
Your ex was awarded the house,* and she agreed to refinance the loan and buy you out of your share of the equity.** This has been verbally agreed to by you, her, and your attorneys, and approved by the judge, as well.
But wait! Has it been STIPULATED in your Order After Hearing?
If not, you’d better get it specifically stipulated in your Judgment…NOW!
What’s the big deal?
If you don’t make sure that your name is removed from HER mortgage, then it’s YOUR mortgage, too!
You’re no longer making the payments, so you don't have the ability to build equity or deduct the interest on your income tax returns, but you will STILL be financially liable for the loan, and will STILL have all of the same financial worries as before (has she been late on a payment…missed a payment…defaulted…paid her property taxes?), only now you won't have the benefit of homeownership because you no longer have a financial stake in the house!
And what happens if you want to buy another house?
- Best-case scenario: you’ll have to hassle with producing a court order to prove that you no longer have any financial liability for the existing loan even though your name is still on it (which may be an exercise in futility because the lender will likely recognize you as a co-borrower regardless. After all, you applied for the existing loan, you signed for the existing loan, and your name is STILL on the existing loan…so as far as the lien holder is concerned: it’s your loan).
- Worst-case scenario: Your loan application is rejected because your income-to-debt ratio is too high (your mortgage isn’t supposed to exceed 31% of your gross income), even though you don't have a financial stake in the house!
So if you don’t take care of this NOW before everything is finalized, you’ll have no chocie but to take care of it later…which will translate in to more $$$...LOTS and LOTS of $$$. Your attorney will most likely ask the judge for the court to hold jurisdiction over the house until your ex refinances it; he will also ask that it be specified exactly how long your ex has to refinance the loan, and what will happen if she doesn’t do it within the specified period of time (e.g., a forced sell if she can’t – or won’t – refinance, regardless of the reason).
The devil had 45 days to refinance the loan, which she (of course) didn’t meet. But because there was no stipulation concerning what would happen if she failed to meet the deadline, there wasn’t much my husband could do other than take her back to court and spend $$$ that he didn't have.
So be sure your court order is worded properly right from the get-go. It should stipulate (1) that she “shall be permitted an opportunity to buy out Respondent’s [or Petitioner’s, as the case may be] interest in the family residence,” (2) that she must refinance the existing loan, (3) that she must “remove Respondent’s name from any loan or mortgage within 45 days from this date,” and (4) specifically what will happen if she fails to refinance the loan for any reason within the stipulated period of time.
My husband’s Order After Hearing failed to stipulate that the devil had to refinance the loan; it only stipulated that she had 45 days in which to "remove his name from the loan." That’s not the same thing. We're just lucky that this didn't become an issue.
And, NO, a Quit Claim Deed won’t suffice! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quitclaim_deed)
*Do NOT let her get away taking you back to court to increase your support obligation just because she can’t afford her mortgage payment: it’s not your fault if she "fails to make a reasonable effort to become self-supporting by undertaking a debt beyond her reasonable means to pay presently or in the foreseeable future." (1)
The devil acknowledged in court that she wouldn't qualify to refinance their marital house on her own because she was unemployed, and that she wouldn't be able to afford the mortgage payments once she became employed, so my husband was awarded the house and agreed to refinance it and pay the devil half of its equity. Two months later, they returned to court and the devil tried to pursuade the judge that she should be given an opportunity to buy the house; it swore that it and her mom would jointly refinance the house, and that its mom would move in and share expenses. This is the ONLY reason my husband agreed to allow the devil and its mom to buy him out of the house. So what happened? The devil refinanced the house on its own, and to this day relies on the entire amount of my husband's child support to make its mortgage payments. Needless to say, we're armed and ready for battle if the devil ever tries to take my husband back to court for increased child support based on its inability to pay its mortgage.
(1) In re the Marriage of JEANNE and ROBERT H. ANINGER, No. B038780, Court of Appeal of California, Second Appellate District, Division Seven, 220 Cal. App. 3d 230; May 11, 1990: “The only factor adversely affecting [Wife’s] ability to meet her needs was an increase … in her housing cost resulting from her purchase of a $280,000 condominium … it would defeat the intent and reasonable expectations of the parties that [Wife] would achieve self-support … by going into debt far beyond her means … By undertaking a debt beyond her reasonable means to pay presently or in the foreseeable future, [Wife] failed to make a reasonable effort to become self-supporting.”
**Do NOT let her stick you with paying any part of her closing costs! The BUYER traditionally pays the closing costs, and you are NOT the buyer…SHE is! The devil tried to force my husband to pay for half of its $6,966 closing costs (or $3,483)! We were dating by then, so he asked me to look over its proposed equity disbursement. If I hadn't looked at this, he would've (unwittingly) paid for its costs because sharing in the devil's closing costs had never been agreed to or even discussed! He protested through his attorney, and the fight was on! I don't know how the devil did it, but it managed to convince the Escrow Officer to set aside the ENTIRE amount of its closing costs (all $6,966!) from my husband’s equity disbursement, which its attorney then held in trust for TWO YEARS (!!!) before they went to trial and the judge deemed that it was rightfully his. He eventually received the money that remained (less what the devil’s attorney had helped herself to, to pay for things like, oh, the ENTIRE cost of their QDRO [vs. half], among other things)!
But wait! Has it been STIPULATED in your Order After Hearing?
If not, you’d better get it specifically stipulated in your Judgment…NOW!
What’s the big deal?
If you don’t make sure that your name is removed from HER mortgage, then it’s YOUR mortgage, too!
You’re no longer making the payments, so you don't have the ability to build equity or deduct the interest on your income tax returns, but you will STILL be financially liable for the loan, and will STILL have all of the same financial worries as before (has she been late on a payment…missed a payment…defaulted…paid her property taxes?), only now you won't have the benefit of homeownership because you no longer have a financial stake in the house!
And what happens if you want to buy another house?
- Best-case scenario: you’ll have to hassle with producing a court order to prove that you no longer have any financial liability for the existing loan even though your name is still on it (which may be an exercise in futility because the lender will likely recognize you as a co-borrower regardless. After all, you applied for the existing loan, you signed for the existing loan, and your name is STILL on the existing loan…so as far as the lien holder is concerned: it’s your loan).
- Worst-case scenario: Your loan application is rejected because your income-to-debt ratio is too high (your mortgage isn’t supposed to exceed 31% of your gross income), even though you don't have a financial stake in the house!
So if you don’t take care of this NOW before everything is finalized, you’ll have no chocie but to take care of it later…which will translate in to more $$$...LOTS and LOTS of $$$. Your attorney will most likely ask the judge for the court to hold jurisdiction over the house until your ex refinances it; he will also ask that it be specified exactly how long your ex has to refinance the loan, and what will happen if she doesn’t do it within the specified period of time (e.g., a forced sell if she can’t – or won’t – refinance, regardless of the reason).
The devil had 45 days to refinance the loan, which she (of course) didn’t meet. But because there was no stipulation concerning what would happen if she failed to meet the deadline, there wasn’t much my husband could do other than take her back to court and spend $$$ that he didn't have.
So be sure your court order is worded properly right from the get-go. It should stipulate (1) that she “shall be permitted an opportunity to buy out Respondent’s [or Petitioner’s, as the case may be] interest in the family residence,” (2) that she must refinance the existing loan, (3) that she must “remove Respondent’s name from any loan or mortgage within 45 days from this date,” and (4) specifically what will happen if she fails to refinance the loan for any reason within the stipulated period of time.
My husband’s Order After Hearing failed to stipulate that the devil had to refinance the loan; it only stipulated that she had 45 days in which to "remove his name from the loan." That’s not the same thing. We're just lucky that this didn't become an issue.
And, NO, a Quit Claim Deed won’t suffice! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quitclaim_deed)
*Do NOT let her get away taking you back to court to increase your support obligation just because she can’t afford her mortgage payment: it’s not your fault if she "fails to make a reasonable effort to become self-supporting by undertaking a debt beyond her reasonable means to pay presently or in the foreseeable future." (1)
The devil acknowledged in court that she wouldn't qualify to refinance their marital house on her own because she was unemployed, and that she wouldn't be able to afford the mortgage payments once she became employed, so my husband was awarded the house and agreed to refinance it and pay the devil half of its equity. Two months later, they returned to court and the devil tried to pursuade the judge that she should be given an opportunity to buy the house; it swore that it and her mom would jointly refinance the house, and that its mom would move in and share expenses. This is the ONLY reason my husband agreed to allow the devil and its mom to buy him out of the house. So what happened? The devil refinanced the house on its own, and to this day relies on the entire amount of my husband's child support to make its mortgage payments. Needless to say, we're armed and ready for battle if the devil ever tries to take my husband back to court for increased child support based on its inability to pay its mortgage.
(1) In re the Marriage of JEANNE and ROBERT H. ANINGER, No. B038780, Court of Appeal of California, Second Appellate District, Division Seven, 220 Cal. App. 3d 230; May 11, 1990: “The only factor adversely affecting [Wife’s] ability to meet her needs was an increase … in her housing cost resulting from her purchase of a $280,000 condominium … it would defeat the intent and reasonable expectations of the parties that [Wife] would achieve self-support … by going into debt far beyond her means … By undertaking a debt beyond her reasonable means to pay presently or in the foreseeable future, [Wife] failed to make a reasonable effort to become self-supporting.”
**Do NOT let her stick you with paying any part of her closing costs! The BUYER traditionally pays the closing costs, and you are NOT the buyer…SHE is! The devil tried to force my husband to pay for half of its $6,966 closing costs (or $3,483)! We were dating by then, so he asked me to look over its proposed equity disbursement. If I hadn't looked at this, he would've (unwittingly) paid for its costs because sharing in the devil's closing costs had never been agreed to or even discussed! He protested through his attorney, and the fight was on! I don't know how the devil did it, but it managed to convince the Escrow Officer to set aside the ENTIRE amount of its closing costs (all $6,966!) from my husband’s equity disbursement, which its attorney then held in trust for TWO YEARS (!!!) before they went to trial and the judge deemed that it was rightfully his. He eventually received the money that remained (less what the devil’s attorney had helped herself to, to pay for things like, oh, the ENTIRE cost of their QDRO [vs. half], among other things)!
Monday, March 2, 2009
Buying a House?
I bet you're wondering, "What does me buying a house have to do with anything?" Well, we wondered the same thing once upon a time. So before we bought our house during my (now) husband's long, drawn out divorce, he asked his attorney how it might affect things, if at all.
She, of course, didn't respond.
After we bought our house, his ex started crying about him including his mortgage interest on his income and expense report. We wondered what this was all about, so we again asked his attorney. That's when we were told that buying a house DOES affect your support payments! How? By increasing them, of course!!!
Yes, that's right. Your mortgage interest is used in the Dissomaster calculation to calculate your support payments because, even though you're spending more money each month now that you have a mortgage payment, you're able to claim your mortgage interest on your tax return, which means that you could get a larger refund from the IRS each year. (No guarantee, of course...we ended up OWING money that first year, and yet his support payments increased regardless!)
So while you're decreasing your available cash each month, you MAY be getting an increased refund from the IRS each year (income). Of course, your refund certainly won't be equal to your increased monthly expenses, but the court doesn't care about that...your refund is additional income as far as they're concerned. So buying a house means you'll now have even less available cash because your newfound wealth (that annual tax refund) is going to make your spousal and/or child support payments go up!
I know...it's bullshit, to be sure! But it is what it is...and it sucks!
She, of course, didn't respond.
After we bought our house, his ex started crying about him including his mortgage interest on his income and expense report. We wondered what this was all about, so we again asked his attorney. That's when we were told that buying a house DOES affect your support payments! How? By increasing them, of course!!!
Yes, that's right. Your mortgage interest is used in the Dissomaster calculation to calculate your support payments because, even though you're spending more money each month now that you have a mortgage payment, you're able to claim your mortgage interest on your tax return, which means that you could get a larger refund from the IRS each year. (No guarantee, of course...we ended up OWING money that first year, and yet his support payments increased regardless!)
So while you're decreasing your available cash each month, you MAY be getting an increased refund from the IRS each year (income). Of course, your refund certainly won't be equal to your increased monthly expenses, but the court doesn't care about that...your refund is additional income as far as they're concerned. So buying a house means you'll now have even less available cash because your newfound wealth (that annual tax refund) is going to make your spousal and/or child support payments go up!
I know...it's bullshit, to be sure! But it is what it is...and it sucks!
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Things to Track...and Why
You will always be in a better position to argue your case if you can show facts in support of your position. So here are some suggested tracking mechanisms and schedules to help you successfully resolve your case, prove your claim, and/or reduce conflict between you and your ex and/or your child's co-parent:
Child-related Expenditures. Despite how she makes it sound, she's not the only one who spends money on your children! So protect yourself from support hikes by keeping track of your child-related expenses like child support; work-related childcare; health, life, dental, and/or vision insurance; medical and prescription co-pays; uninsured medical, dental, and vision; extracurricular activities; gifts; entertainment; and vacations. And don't forget basic necessities like food, housing, clothing, furniture, transportation, school lunches and supplies, over-the-counter medicines and supplies, hiarcuts, etc.
Court Order Summations. Keep all of the issues in your Temporary Orders, Orders After Hearings, Judgments, etc., straight by creating a simple table of all of your court-ordered stipulations.
Explanation of Earnings. Create spreadsheets to explain complicated pay stubs, non-recurring overtime, bonuses, W-2 earnings, etc.
Holiday, Birthday and Special Day Schedule. Eliminate confusion by spelling out agreements for holidays, birthdays, and special days, and incorporating them into your annual parenting calendar.
Example: Child’s Birthday.
“Follow the approved Parenting Schedule. Parents will coordinate and accommodate one another to the extent practical when planning [Child's] birthday celebrations.
Parent A: Spends [Child's] actual birthday with her (all day or as [Child's] school schedule and Parent A’s work schedule permit).
Parent B: Celebrates [Child's] birthday on Parent B’s next regularly-scheduled parenting day.”
Income and Expense Reconciliations. Create a spreadsheet that compares your monthly bottom line to hers to compare and contrast your income-to-debt ratios, which is considered when setting support amounts.
Medical Reimbursement Form. For collection of the other parent’s share of your child’s uninsured medical care expenses (co-pays, prescriptions, etc.).
Parenting Plans. Develop a comprehensive plan for each parent to approve and use to help resolve your co-parenting issues.
Parenting Calendar. Eliminate confusion by transferring your parenting schedule onto an easy-to-follow, monthly calendar.
Percentage of Parenting Time. Is your parenting time at issue? Create a spreadsheet to calculate your precise annual percentage of parenting time (and hers, too!) to support your claimed time with your children. Dissomaster is based on your percentage of parenting time!
Reconciliations of Disputed Monetary Issues. Develop spreadsheets to explain disputed monetary issues.
Sequence of Events. Keep a detailed chronology of relevant events, which will help you establish a pattern of behavior to substantiate your claims. Remember to also record all of the "right" things that you're doing.
Table of Events and Documents. Develop an at-a-glance chronology of all of the documents and events relevant to your case. This will help you direct your attorney to the right piece of paper in your file, rather than have her do an expensive search.
Unresolved Issues List. Maintain an outline of all of your outstanding issues, which will help you to remember even the small things.
Contact Me. Let me know if you have questions about any of these (or other) tracking mechanisms, or if you'd like me to email you examples or templates. I'm glad to help! :)
Child-related Expenditures. Despite how she makes it sound, she's not the only one who spends money on your children! So protect yourself from support hikes by keeping track of your child-related expenses like child support; work-related childcare; health, life, dental, and/or vision insurance; medical and prescription co-pays; uninsured medical, dental, and vision; extracurricular activities; gifts; entertainment; and vacations. And don't forget basic necessities like food, housing, clothing, furniture, transportation, school lunches and supplies, over-the-counter medicines and supplies, hiarcuts, etc.
Court Order Summations. Keep all of the issues in your Temporary Orders, Orders After Hearings, Judgments, etc., straight by creating a simple table of all of your court-ordered stipulations.
Explanation of Earnings. Create spreadsheets to explain complicated pay stubs, non-recurring overtime, bonuses, W-2 earnings, etc.
Holiday, Birthday and Special Day Schedule. Eliminate confusion by spelling out agreements for holidays, birthdays, and special days, and incorporating them into your annual parenting calendar.
Example: Child’s Birthday.
“Follow the approved Parenting Schedule. Parents will coordinate and accommodate one another to the extent practical when planning [Child's] birthday celebrations.
Parent A: Spends [Child's] actual birthday with her (all day or as [Child's] school schedule and Parent A’s work schedule permit).
Parent B: Celebrates [Child's] birthday on Parent B’s next regularly-scheduled parenting day.”
Income and Expense Reconciliations. Create a spreadsheet that compares your monthly bottom line to hers to compare and contrast your income-to-debt ratios, which is considered when setting support amounts.
Medical Reimbursement Form. For collection of the other parent’s share of your child’s uninsured medical care expenses (co-pays, prescriptions, etc.).
Parenting Plans. Develop a comprehensive plan for each parent to approve and use to help resolve your co-parenting issues.
Parenting Calendar. Eliminate confusion by transferring your parenting schedule onto an easy-to-follow, monthly calendar.
Percentage of Parenting Time. Is your parenting time at issue? Create a spreadsheet to calculate your precise annual percentage of parenting time (and hers, too!) to support your claimed time with your children. Dissomaster is based on your percentage of parenting time!
Reconciliations of Disputed Monetary Issues. Develop spreadsheets to explain disputed monetary issues.
Sequence of Events. Keep a detailed chronology of relevant events, which will help you establish a pattern of behavior to substantiate your claims. Remember to also record all of the "right" things that you're doing.
Table of Events and Documents. Develop an at-a-glance chronology of all of the documents and events relevant to your case. This will help you direct your attorney to the right piece of paper in your file, rather than have her do an expensive search.
Unresolved Issues List. Maintain an outline of all of your outstanding issues, which will help you to remember even the small things.
Contact Me. Let me know if you have questions about any of these (or other) tracking mechanisms, or if you'd like me to email you examples or templates. I'm glad to help! :)
Sunday, February 22, 2009
What if She Quits (or Threatens to Quit) her Job?
Yeah, unfortunately, we’ve been there, too…
From our 2007 Sequence of Events: [The Devil]’s Angry, Threatening Voice Message. 7:40 p.m.: “[Angel], this is [the devil]. Um, I wanna know why I got a check for 10 dollars [instead of the $20 she unreasonably demanded]. … I w-[ant] I need a call back and I need you to tell me why you’re not paying me what I n-[eed] deserve to be paid. Um … if I hafta quit my job and take you back to court so you can pay me 23 hundred a month then maybe that’s what I hafta do.”
At that time, between child support and earnings, the devil’s monthly income was at least $4,237.50, so we didn’t take her threat seriously. But if she had quit her job, the court would have “imputed” her income to calculate child support, spousal support, and/or attorney fees being as she would have been purposefully unemployed or underemployed.
Here’s how it works:
If the Court believes that a parent has voluntarily reduced his or her wages, no matter how justified, it may compute child support based on that parent’s “imputed income”—or the amount they could be earning.
Minimum wage is $1,300 a month, and the court assumes that everyone can work at a minimum wage job. To impute more than minimum wage, you would need to plan on a vocational examination of your ex to have the admissible evidence needed to impute her higher income.
Imputed income can also be used when an individual is self-employed and her earnings would be greater if she were not. But to be able to impute her income, there needs to be opportunity as well as ability, which means that not only does your ex need to be qualified to do a job, employers also need to be hiring for that job.
So as far as we were concerned, the devil’s threat was a non-threat.
But if she had quit her job, she would’ve been jeopardizing the children’s wellbeing simply because she was pissed off. If that had happened, we would’ve asked the judge for sole physical custody until the devil was able to secure steady, full-time employment sufficient to once again support herself and the children (in combination with my child support). In the meantime, our child support obligation to her would’ve been reduced to zero.
End of problem.
From our 2007 Sequence of Events: [The Devil]’s Angry, Threatening Voice Message. 7:40 p.m.: “[Angel], this is [the devil]. Um, I wanna know why I got a check for 10 dollars [instead of the $20 she unreasonably demanded]. … I w-[ant] I need a call back and I need you to tell me why you’re not paying me what I n-[eed] deserve to be paid. Um … if I hafta quit my job and take you back to court so you can pay me 23 hundred a month then maybe that’s what I hafta do.”
At that time, between child support and earnings, the devil’s monthly income was at least $4,237.50, so we didn’t take her threat seriously. But if she had quit her job, the court would have “imputed” her income to calculate child support, spousal support, and/or attorney fees being as she would have been purposefully unemployed or underemployed.
Here’s how it works:
If the Court believes that a parent has voluntarily reduced his or her wages, no matter how justified, it may compute child support based on that parent’s “imputed income”—or the amount they could be earning.
Minimum wage is $1,300 a month, and the court assumes that everyone can work at a minimum wage job. To impute more than minimum wage, you would need to plan on a vocational examination of your ex to have the admissible evidence needed to impute her higher income.
Imputed income can also be used when an individual is self-employed and her earnings would be greater if she were not. But to be able to impute her income, there needs to be opportunity as well as ability, which means that not only does your ex need to be qualified to do a job, employers also need to be hiring for that job.
So as far as we were concerned, the devil’s threat was a non-threat.
But if she had quit her job, she would’ve been jeopardizing the children’s wellbeing simply because she was pissed off. If that had happened, we would’ve asked the judge for sole physical custody until the devil was able to secure steady, full-time employment sufficient to once again support herself and the children (in combination with my child support). In the meantime, our child support obligation to her would’ve been reduced to zero.
End of problem.
Does She Want More Child Support?
The court requires that a significant change in circumstances must have taken place before modifying support orders, as follows:
* Change of Employment: A parent changes jobs and his/her income has changed significantly.
* Change in Custody Arrangements: The child now lives with the parent paying support.
* Change in Visitation Schedules: The visitation time with a parent increases or decreases significantly.
* NOT Past Child Support: The court will not modify past child support obligations; this is not permitted by Federal law.
Therefore, the court should refuse to hear your ex’s case for increased child support based solely on whether you get a raise, work overtime, or get a bonus (especially if your bonuses, like my husband's, are already factored in to the Dissomaster calculation).
I say "should" because, as you know, the dad always seems to be getting screwed...but knowing your rights should help protect you from being taken advantage of.
* Change of Employment: A parent changes jobs and his/her income has changed significantly.
* Change in Custody Arrangements: The child now lives with the parent paying support.
* Change in Visitation Schedules: The visitation time with a parent increases or decreases significantly.
* NOT Past Child Support: The court will not modify past child support obligations; this is not permitted by Federal law.
Therefore, the court should refuse to hear your ex’s case for increased child support based solely on whether you get a raise, work overtime, or get a bonus (especially if your bonuses, like my husband's, are already factored in to the Dissomaster calculation).
I say "should" because, as you know, the dad always seems to be getting screwed...but knowing your rights should help protect you from being taken advantage of.
What Does Child Support Cover? (Updated to Include Our Day in Court)
For years (8 to be exact!), the devil expected my husband to reimburse her for one-half of her out-of-pocket expenses for the children’s school supplies, clothes, shoes, haircuts, etc.
Don’t get me wrong: he pays child support. In fact, he pays A LOT of child support! But the fact that child support is supposed to cover all of these things didn’t stop her from harassing him for reimbursement. (I’ve documented as many as three emails, two text messages and five voice messages in the same day demanding reimbursement for a $10 expenditure that she’d planned to incur for one of the kids that was actually covered by child support. We've learned to simply ignore her demands.)
Here’s the deal…
Child support guidelines and calculations are designed to minimize disparities in the standards of living between households by defraying the cost of the child(ren)’s predictable and recurring expenses incurred by or while in the care of the other parent.
So what IS your ex supposed to be doing with all that money you've been ordered to fork over to her each month? It’s supposed to be going toward your child(ren)’s:
• food (groceries, school lunches, etc.)
• housing (mortgage payment [excluding principal payment], property taxes, homeowners insurance and home maintenance costs)
• utilities (gas, electricity, water, sewer, garbage, cable TV, internet and telephones)
• K-12 education (school supplies, backpacks, lunch boxes, field trips, class parties, etc.)
• transportation (car payments, registration, insurance, maintenance and fuel)
• furniture
• clothing (clothes, shoes, outerwear)
• medical (over-the-counter medicines and medical supplies)
• personal hygiene products (toiletries and accessories)
• bedding and linens
• laundry and cleaning supplies
• discretionary/extracurricular activities to include enrichment (e.g. piano, ballet) and sports (e.g. karate, soccer), and all associated expenses (e.g. registration, lessons, instrument, uniform, gear).
Generally speaking, the only things that are NOT covered by child support are work- or school-related child care, health insurance premiums, and any uninsured medical expenses (i.e. co-pays). All other expenses are covered by child support.
The court can order you to pay for other items, as well, but these are typically extraordinary items such as tuition for necessary special education and the like. So you aren’t liable for any extra expenses unless it states so in your support order.
In other words, you aren’t obligated to pay for anything beyond the specified support amount. And paying for any extras is entirely up to you.
UPDATE:
On 10/26/10, the devil's fiance (referred to herein as "no nuts") served my husband with an Order to Show Cause for "extra curricular and other issues as pleaded." That is: she wanted the Judge to order him to reimburse her for one-half the cost of her out of pocket expenses for the children's 2010 and future extracurricular activities and school-related expenses. She also wanted him to "obtain and maintain adequate wardrobes for the children [to be kept at our house]." (Which, by the way, we are NOT obligated to do and which, by the way, we have ALWAYS done.)
WHAT A FREAK!
They went to Court on 11/23/10 (yes, the week of Thanksgiving!).
The Judge started by asking the devil to clarify what it was she was asking for. The devil reiterated that she wanted to be reimbursed for one-half of her 2010 extracurricular activities and school-related expenses. The Judge at least pretended to be confused by her ridiculous request: she made it clear that this is "not an issue of reimbursement"; that she would consider prospectively but not retrospectively. (That is: she would consider future expenses by establishing an order, but not past expenses by ordering enforcement of something that had not previously been ordered].)
The devil then complained that my husband has never reimbursed her for the children's school supplies expenses. The Judge (God bless her!) looked at the devil, dumbfounded, and said, "Isn't that what child support is for? It's not child support PLUS he buys everything for the children!" Priceless!!
In the end, the Judge dismissed everything that came out of that idiot's mouth. She did, however, order my husband to reimburse the devil for one-half of the children's future expenses related to their (non-existent) music lessons. (The devil had lied to the Judge by saying that she'd had to cancel the children's music lessons because she couldn't afford them...only they hadn't taken music lessons in months because they'd only just been dabbling in them and really didn't enjoy them enough to want to continue.)
Don’t get me wrong: he pays child support. In fact, he pays A LOT of child support! But the fact that child support is supposed to cover all of these things didn’t stop her from harassing him for reimbursement. (I’ve documented as many as three emails, two text messages and five voice messages in the same day demanding reimbursement for a $10 expenditure that she’d planned to incur for one of the kids that was actually covered by child support. We've learned to simply ignore her demands.)
Here’s the deal…
Child support guidelines and calculations are designed to minimize disparities in the standards of living between households by defraying the cost of the child(ren)’s predictable and recurring expenses incurred by or while in the care of the other parent.
So what IS your ex supposed to be doing with all that money you've been ordered to fork over to her each month? It’s supposed to be going toward your child(ren)’s:
• food (groceries, school lunches, etc.)
• housing (mortgage payment [excluding principal payment], property taxes, homeowners insurance and home maintenance costs)
• utilities (gas, electricity, water, sewer, garbage, cable TV, internet and telephones)
• K-12 education (school supplies, backpacks, lunch boxes, field trips, class parties, etc.)
• transportation (car payments, registration, insurance, maintenance and fuel)
• furniture
• clothing (clothes, shoes, outerwear)
• medical (over-the-counter medicines and medical supplies)
• personal hygiene products (toiletries and accessories)
• bedding and linens
• laundry and cleaning supplies
• discretionary/extracurricular activities to include enrichment (e.g. piano, ballet) and sports (e.g. karate, soccer), and all associated expenses (e.g. registration, lessons, instrument, uniform, gear).
Generally speaking, the only things that are NOT covered by child support are work- or school-related child care, health insurance premiums, and any uninsured medical expenses (i.e. co-pays). All other expenses are covered by child support.
The court can order you to pay for other items, as well, but these are typically extraordinary items such as tuition for necessary special education and the like. So you aren’t liable for any extra expenses unless it states so in your support order.
In other words, you aren’t obligated to pay for anything beyond the specified support amount. And paying for any extras is entirely up to you.
UPDATE:
On 10/26/10, the devil's fiance (referred to herein as "no nuts") served my husband with an Order to Show Cause for "extra curricular and other issues as pleaded." That is: she wanted the Judge to order him to reimburse her for one-half the cost of her out of pocket expenses for the children's 2010 and future extracurricular activities and school-related expenses. She also wanted him to "obtain and maintain adequate wardrobes for the children [to be kept at our house]." (Which, by the way, we are NOT obligated to do and which, by the way, we have ALWAYS done.)
WHAT A FREAK!
They went to Court on 11/23/10 (yes, the week of Thanksgiving!).
The Judge started by asking the devil to clarify what it was she was asking for. The devil reiterated that she wanted to be reimbursed for one-half of her 2010 extracurricular activities and school-related expenses. The Judge at least pretended to be confused by her ridiculous request: she made it clear that this is "not an issue of reimbursement"; that she would consider prospectively but not retrospectively. (That is: she would consider future expenses by establishing an order, but not past expenses by ordering enforcement of something that had not previously been ordered].)
The devil then complained that my husband has never reimbursed her for the children's school supplies expenses. The Judge (God bless her!) looked at the devil, dumbfounded, and said, "Isn't that what child support is for? It's not child support PLUS he buys everything for the children!" Priceless!!
In the end, the Judge dismissed everything that came out of that idiot's mouth. She did, however, order my husband to reimburse the devil for one-half of the children's future expenses related to their (non-existent) music lessons. (The devil had lied to the Judge by saying that she'd had to cancel the children's music lessons because she couldn't afford them...only they hadn't taken music lessons in months because they'd only just been dabbling in them and really didn't enjoy them enough to want to continue.)
What is Dissomaster?
Dissomaster is a program that calculates TEMPORARY guideline child and spousal support.
Temporary Spousal Support
The support that you're ordered to pay from the time you file for divorce until your divorce is final (a minimum of 6 months in California) is considered “temporary” support. Temporary support is usually set at a higher rate than permanent support.
In re the Marriage of ANDREA L. and MICHAEL P. SCHULZE, No. G015895, COURT OF APPEAL OF CALIFORNIA, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT, DIVISION THREE, 60 Cal. App. 4th 519; 70 Cal. Rptr. 2d 488; December 29, 1997, Decided: “Temporary support … usually is higher than permanent support because it is intended to maintain the status quo prior to the divorce.”
By the time my husband’s divorce was final, he'd paid at the higher “temporary” rate for more than 2 years (versus the 6-month period that it's intended to cover).
Dissomaster v. Permanent Support
Permanent spousal support is NOT supposed to be based on Dissomaster; it's supposed to be calculated by the Judge...and the Judge is NOT supposed to use Dissomaster as a guide.
In re the Marriage of ANDREA L. and MICHAEL P. SCHULZE, No. G015895, COURT OF APPEAL OF CALIFORNIA, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT, DIVISION THREE, 60 Cal. App. 4th 519; 70 Cal. Rptr. 2d 488; December 29, 1997, Decided: “The spousal support component of a permanent family support order must be based on the statutory factors enumerated in section 4320 of the Family Code, not pegged to a number generated by a computer program intended for use in calculating temporary support [DissoMaster].”
But be prepared: Even though--BY LAW--spousal support is NOT supposed to be based on Dissomaster, IT IS! It ALWAYS is!
My husband's permanent spousal support was also based on Dissomaster. When specifically questioned about this, his attorney chose to avoid the question rather than answer it. Attorneys don't want to argue this point with the judge. In fact, they're probably counting on the fact that you don't know this law.
You CAN fight this...but you'd better make sure that it will be worth the potentially enormous attorney fees that you're likely to incur, because you’ll probably have to take your case all the way to the Calfornia Court of Appeals. Then again, if you were (un)lucky enough to be married for 10+ years, it may be worth your while to fight this if you're looking at paying a large amount of spousal support for the rest of your ex's life!
Temporary Spousal Support
The support that you're ordered to pay from the time you file for divorce until your divorce is final (a minimum of 6 months in California) is considered “temporary” support. Temporary support is usually set at a higher rate than permanent support.
In re the Marriage of ANDREA L. and MICHAEL P. SCHULZE, No. G015895, COURT OF APPEAL OF CALIFORNIA, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT, DIVISION THREE, 60 Cal. App. 4th 519; 70 Cal. Rptr. 2d 488; December 29, 1997, Decided: “Temporary support … usually is higher than permanent support because it is intended to maintain the status quo prior to the divorce.”
By the time my husband’s divorce was final, he'd paid at the higher “temporary” rate for more than 2 years (versus the 6-month period that it's intended to cover).
Dissomaster v. Permanent Support
Permanent spousal support is NOT supposed to be based on Dissomaster; it's supposed to be calculated by the Judge...and the Judge is NOT supposed to use Dissomaster as a guide.
In re the Marriage of ANDREA L. and MICHAEL P. SCHULZE, No. G015895, COURT OF APPEAL OF CALIFORNIA, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT, DIVISION THREE, 60 Cal. App. 4th 519; 70 Cal. Rptr. 2d 488; December 29, 1997, Decided: “The spousal support component of a permanent family support order must be based on the statutory factors enumerated in section 4320 of the Family Code, not pegged to a number generated by a computer program intended for use in calculating temporary support [DissoMaster].”
But be prepared: Even though--BY LAW--spousal support is NOT supposed to be based on Dissomaster, IT IS! It ALWAYS is!
My husband's permanent spousal support was also based on Dissomaster. When specifically questioned about this, his attorney chose to avoid the question rather than answer it. Attorneys don't want to argue this point with the judge. In fact, they're probably counting on the fact that you don't know this law.
You CAN fight this...but you'd better make sure that it will be worth the potentially enormous attorney fees that you're likely to incur, because you’ll probably have to take your case all the way to the Calfornia Court of Appeals. Then again, if you were (un)lucky enough to be married for 10+ years, it may be worth your while to fight this if you're looking at paying a large amount of spousal support for the rest of your ex's life!
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