Hello everyone... I am new to the forum and would really appreciate your help. I have been divorced for 16 years and have two "children". One is grown and the other will be 18 and graduated from high school at the end of this school year. I found out a couple of days ago that my ex filed paperwork with the court for a child support modification and is also asking for me to pay 100% of medical bills. I am currently still paying the same amount of child support that I was paying when my oldest child was a minor. According to my calculations, the child support amount is not going to change very much at all...... The timing of all this is very strange to me. I didn't date for an extremely long time after the divorce because I was crushed over the loss of my family. I met someone a little over a year ago and we recently got engaged and I think that's where all this is stemming from...... I was hoping that I would never have to enter that courtroom again... What do I need to do to protect myself in this situation?
It's possible he's doing this to establish a case for post-secondary support (i.e. college costs and/or an extended support period).
And yes, it's also possible this is a reaction to your becoming involved with someone, it certainly wouldn't be the first time we've heard of this.
It might be worth a one-time consult with an attorney to see what your options are and also if his motion has any realistic chance of succeeding. From what you said, my guess is that it wouldn't be approved unless he can show there's a valid reason for the increase or extension.
If anyone else here has some other ideas or suggestions, please chime in!
Quote from: Rfttbo15 on Oct 29, 2015, 11:59:14 AM
Hello everyone... I am new to the forum and would really appreciate your help. I have been divorced for 16 years and have two "children". One is grown and the other will be 18 and graduated from high school at the end of this school year. I found out a couple of days ago that my ex filed paperwork with the court for a child support modification and is also asking for me to pay 100% of medical bills. I am currently still paying the same amount of child support that I was paying when my oldest child was a minor. According to my calculations, the child support amount is not going to change very much at all...... The timing of all this is very strange to me. I didn't date for an extremely long time after the divorce because I was crushed over the loss of my family. I met someone a little over a year ago and we recently got engaged and I think that's where all this is stemming from...... I was hoping that I would never have to enter that courtroom again... What do I need to do to protect myself in this situation?
Have you had COLA increases over the years?
What do you have now about out of cost medical?
Is there a reason on the paperwork as to why the need for an increase? There needs to be a change of circumstance.
You can represent yourself since you dont think there will be an increase and save money by not paying a lawyer. Here most lawyers will do a phone consult or first hour for free and small fee to make sure you are not missing anything. You can have a lawyer file a dismissal based that there has not been a change in circumstance, especially if there have been cola increases.
Maybe the ex lost a job and medical benefits? Seems odd...something is up to start this over 7 months left. If you do wind up in court, get an ending date for child support so you do not have to go back. You can prob postpone a month or more and drag this out until the youngest is 18...
ditto to what they both said.
Thanks everyone for the input... This hasn't been revisited by the court since around 2006 or 2007 so there haven't been any changes since that time. I pay an additional amount each month above the ordered CS amount just for medical. I actually haven't been given a subpoena for court yet so I don't know what it says, but my oldest advised me that one had been delivered to my ex. As far as I know there haven't been any changes in circumstances. My ex is still working at the same location and nothing has been mentioned about anything happening in the regard. I really believe that this is being done purely out of spite because of the changes going on in my life... trying to punish me for not continuing to be miserable.
Something else to consider.....by the time this issue would make it thru the court system, the youngest probably will be graduated. Depends on the court whether they would want to address increasing CS when it would only be valid for a very short time.
Why would mom be subpoenaed for her own case??
Here, child support does not have to be served on the other party so it depends on the state. Look online in your state family court or call the family court closest to mom and ask if anything has been filed under your file number (look at old court papers, the file number stays the same).
Is child under state medical plan? Maybe the state is going after her for part of the cost?
The way it works here is that once the paperwork is filed with the court, it takes several weeks before anything is scheduled. Both parties are issued a summons/subpoena with the date and time of the hearing listed.... she isn't under a state medical plan and I still don't have any new information.. I was advised by the court that they cannot give me any info over the phone due to the nature of the hearing. I will have to go by there or wait for my copy of the summons...
WHat state and county?
Maybe we can find the online cases so you can look it up. Here you use your file number.
Curiosity would just kill me....I'd be asking them for the file and looking myself.
As of today, I still haven't received any type of notification. It's definitely killing me becauae I'd really like to know what is going on. To say that I'm worried would be a huge understatement. The file isn't available to be looked up online because where I am these types of hearings are heard in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court and they don't post the records as public information.