Messages

We're looking for a good pro-father family law attorney in Vancouver WA. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Thanks!

>Almost every CS modification in WA is handled by special
>prosecutors, since the use of the Washington State Support
>Registry is MANDATED by state statute unles the receiving
>parent or child would be harmed by the use of the WSSR.

It is my understanding that the Prosecutors Office is only involved if the Support Order is 1) not Administrative and 2) the request for a review was made and approved via DCS.

This the first time my case has been sent to the Prosecutor's office, even though it has been reviewed by DCS several times and the mother once filed a request for modification via an attorney (this is when the Order went from being Administrative to Court Ordered.)

>The question is, why were you not at the hearing?

I will be at the hearing, if there is one. I didn't clarify before: The order has not been modified - yet. I recieved the Petition for Modification from the Prosecutor requesting I pay significantly more money than what DCS had come up with during their review. This was a big shock to me. So I still have a chance to respond to the Petition before the SO is modified.

Thanks for the response.

>I read your post on Socrateaser's board. You provided a
>little more info over there. Such as you only work
>part-time. The courts can and probably are imputing
>income to you as you are underemployed. While they
>can't make you work 40 hours a week
>even if your current job doesn't offer full-time hours,
>you can always find a job that does or get a second
>job to make up the difference in hours), they
>can treat you like you are.

I understand that it is possible they might impute income at 40 hours. At any rate, the issue has not come up as of yet.

My primary concern is their claim that the need standard not applying to me because I live in another state. From the responses I have recieved and Socrateaser's response, it seems that the law is clear on this issue and the need standard should have been considered in the calculation.

Thanks for all of your help and feedback.

 

The original order is in Washington State.

I have done a thorough search on the exact wording of the standard ( I think I could probably recite the entire standard from memory!) and there is NOTHING about it only applying to WA state residents. The last time the order was modified, I even discussed the standard with an attorney and she agreed it applied. What's concerning me now is that this action is being filed by a County Prosecutor who does this all the time, and it seems he would know exactly what they could and couldn't get away with in regards to the Need Standard... has anyone here ever dealt with a County Prosecutor? How is it different than a regular old attorney?

Thanks for your replies, I suppose I'd better find a good (and cheap!) attorney fast.

I have 2 children, who live with their mother in WA state. I live approximately 100 miles away, in OR, and make about $1350 a month after taxes. Mother is (and has been for a very long time) on TANF and other public assistance. She has not held a job in 5 years. Because she is on public assistance, the state does an automatic review of CS ever 3 years. Last year, DCS did a review and determined my support should be $470 but after the adjustment to the Washington State Need Standard (line 15b of the WA state CS Worksheet) my support would actually only be $320.

Then, the case was referred to the Prosecuting Attorney's office in the county where my ex & kids live. After many months of hearing nothing, I get a notice that my support is being raised to over $500 a month - primarily because "Washington State Need Standard does not apply because Father resides in Oregon." Which leaves me with approximately $850 to live on each month.

Every time my support has been reviewed in the past, DCS (and even my ex's attorney) have used the Washington State Need Standard to calculate my child support, even though I am a resident of Oregon. The issue of my living in OR has never come up. The Washington Support Worksheet doesn't say anything about the Need Standard only applying to Washington residents.

My question is: should I try to fight this and insist the Need Standard applies? Do I have a leg to stand on here? Or am I screwed because this case is being handled by the Prosecuting Attorney's office? Do I need to find an attorney?

I have 2 children, who live with their mother in WA state. I live in Oregon, and make about $1350 a month after taxes. Mother is recieving TANF and other public assistance.

Last fall DCS did an automatic review and determined my gross support obligation would be $470, but after taking into account the Washington State Need Standard (line 15b of the WA state CS Worksheet) DCS determined support would be set at $320 per month.

The case was then referred to the Prosecuting Attorney's office in the county where my ex & kids live. Now I've recieved a petition for modification from the County Prosecutor which requests my support be raised to over $500 a month - with a note that "Washington State Need Standard does not apply because Father resides in Oregon." This would leave me about $800 per month to live on, but the need standard is $1017.

Every time my support has been reviewed or modified in the past, DCS (and my ex's attorney, and a family law facilitator) have used the Washington State Need Standard to calculate my child support, even though I am a resident of Oregon.

The Washington Support Worksheet doesn't say anything about the Need Standard only applying to Washington residents. And I can't find ANY cases or statutes that say anything about residency. The statute seems very cut and dry: RCW 26.19.065 reads "A parent's support obligation shall not reduce his or her net income below the need standard for one person established pursuant to RCW 74.04.770, except for the presumptive minimum payment of twenty-five dollars per child per month or in cases where the court finds reasons for deviation."

I work 30 hours a week, have had the same job and yearly income for the last 5 years. I am current in my support payments.

My questions are:

1) Would/Can the court really ignore the Need Standard because I live in another state?

2) Do the family courts generally favor prosecuting attorneys over private parties? in other words, am I screwed?

3) Is it likely they will say I am underemployed and need to work 40 hours per week (my employer/job does not offer full time positions.)

4) Should I hire an attorney in my area, or should I try to find an attorney who works in the county where the children reside?

Thank you.

I just received a notice of hearing from the Prosecutors Office in regards to my support modification (the state is representing my children since their mother has been on state assistance for the last 10 years.)

It has been 11 months since the petition was originally submitted and the hearing has finally been scheduled for the end of the month. Unfortunately - not only am taking a long-planned for (and already paid in full) vacation during the hearing, but I am going to be ON THE PLANE when the hearing is scheduled.

I am representing myself. I live in another state than my children, which means that I must handle all of this via mail, email or fax. How should I proceed? Do I send a fax to the Prosecuting Attorney asking for a continuance? Do I need to explain why - and will they allow the continuance?

Thanks for the info, I really appreciate it... we will start looking for a good attorney right away!

MY DH has 2 sons from a prior relationship, age 13 and 9. They boys live with their mother in WA state (about 250 miles away from where we live.) There has never been a visitation schedule.

Their mother (X) is very vocal about how boys need their dad, how he's "abandoned" them, but when it comes down to it, she is extremely controlling and expects him to visit the kids at her house (she doesn't drive) which DH doesn't want to do. X is critical and claims the kids don't want to stay the night with us (they've only stayed at our house 2 weeks in the last 5 years, but they were fine) and that DH doesn't know how to take care of them. DH has tried to make plans to pick kids up for visits a couple of times, only to be told the kids aren't available at the last minute. He hasn't seen his boys for 2 years, and before that he only saw them a few times a year, for a day or two at a time. He pays all child support on time and sends them gifts and letters on a regular basis. He's very stable and doesn't drink or do drugs, has never had any problems with the law and has a steady job.

DH wants to have regular visitation with his sons. My question is: how should we go about this? Is it too late to try to set up a visitation schedule? What is a reasonable amount of time to ask for? We don't have much money, do we need an attorney? I know X will say that he doesn't know his boys well enough and they don't want to visit him at his home. Is it reasonable for DH to request visitation at our house, or would be expected to visit them in the city where they reside? Can we ask that X be required to provide at least some of the transportation, even though she doesn't drive?

Any advice would be helpful.