Messages

Stipulation and Order (filed 10/2003) for Tution is worded:
*********
14.   EXPENSES OF THE CHILDREN:  Expenses for the children shall be shared as follows.
Expense   Mother   Father
Health Insurance Premiums   50%   50%
Medical (uninsured, co-pays, etc.)   50%   50%
Dental, Orthodontic & Vision   50%   50%
Psychological    50%   50%
Educational – Including Private School Tuition   50%   50%
Extraordinary expenses (car insurance, etc.)    50%   50%

a.   The Father will provide Health Insurance coverage for the children.
b.   Uninsured Medical costs from new out of network providers will be the sole responsibility of the parent who utilizes that out of network provider.  
c.   Medical and dental expenses shall NOT include elective or solely cosmetic medical and dental procedures. The cost of elective or solely cosmetic medical and dental procedures shall be the sole responsibility of the parent obtaining or requesting such procedure.
d.   Extracurricular Activity costs will be the sole responsibility of the parent who signed the child(ren) up for the activity.  Extracurricular Activities include, but are not limited to Soccer, Dance, Gymnastics, and Summer Camps.
e.   All bills for shared expenses shall be submitted to the other parent within 90 days of the date of service. A parent who fails to submit a copy of a bill for a shared cost to the other parent within 90 days of the date of service shall be solely responsible for all out-of-pocket costs, including but not limited to all uninsured costs and co-pays, for that bill.  The Other Parent shall reimburse the Parent submitting the bill for reimbursement within 30 days of submitting the bill.
f.   Effective November 2003 the Mother shall reimburse her share of the Private School Tuition directly to the Father.  The Father will provide a payment schedule for the current school year to the Mother within 1 week of the effective date of this agreement and at the beginning of every subsequent school year to the Mother.

************

Schedule for 2004- 2005 school year mailed with delivery confirmation.  (BM doesn't pick up Certified letters).

Stipulation and Order for CS entered in May 2004.

She is currently deliquent on:
Tuition payments for Sept, Oct, and Novemeber.  As well as reimbursement of expenses for August, Sept, Oct and November.

Total amount outstanding is approx $2,500. (not including CS that is oustanding from Sept also)

She has verbally stated that she will not be paying anything anymore.  
She also left DH a voicemail saying that she deposited money in her account for the check she wrote and bounced in October.  (Obviously a lie since the check bounced)

DH really likes your suggestion to intervene.

Would it complicate things that her new divorce is in a different county?

I am really thinking that this is becoming more than we can handle on our own.

Any suggestions on a good lawyer in Santa Clara County, CA?
Thanks
FTK

Thanks Soc,

We re-opened the case with DCSS for the child support so they can handle that aspect. (She just recently had to get a job since her husband is divorcing her)

Just to make sure I am understanding your suggestion,  we should file contempt for the non payment of the tuition and her 1/2 of expenses and use the bounced check and proof of her complete disregard of the stipulated agreement she entered in to last year.

It isn't that she doesn't have the money to pay support or the tuition, she just doesn't want to pay.

1) With regard to the scanctions, what would be the norm to ask for?

2) Should we just find a lawyer and turn it over to them?

Thanks!
FTK

Divorce in Santa Clara County, CA

DH and BM Stipulated CS and Private School Tuition.

BM has not paid either since Sept.  

Last payment she made on 10/25 bounced due to insufficient funds.
DH called her on 10/28 and demanded payment within 10 days.
BM's response "you will never get any more money out of me"

We looked up the bad check statue for CA.
Mailed the demand for payment on 11/10.  Included the wording as per the statue.

We are told our next step is small claims to recover the check amount ($780) plus the statutory penalty (in this case $1,500) total of $2,280.  She lives in Yuba County, so we know that we are to file in that small claims court.

The statue says that the check amount plus statutory penalty is due is payment is not made within 30 days of the mailing of the demand for payment.

Questions:

1) Should we file with small claims on 12/10?
2) Will Small Claims tell us to take it to family court since the check is for Tuition and expense reimbursement?

3) Should we attach a copy of the bad check, proof of mailing of the demand and a copy of the letter to the small claims filing?

4) We are assuming that the check was for payment of back CS and Tuition, but we can't match the amounts to anything she owed.  If we recover the money, should we pass on a month of CS to DCSS? (We could reasonably assume that she was attempting to pay one month of CS and Tuition, plus who know what)

5) We are planning on filing contempt on the non payment of Tuition and expense reimbursement after the first of the year; will the small claims case negatively impact the contempt?

Thanks for all of your help!!
FTK

PS - I think a few years back you hinted at some "big" announcement you were going to make... did I miss it or is it still in the works?

Thanks Soc,

One last question.

Could you suggest some language for the new stipulation that will enable the garnishment to continue at the current amount for all future years?

Our worry is that we might be able to get her to sign the stipulation for this school year, but as soon as she gets hit with the garnishment, she will refuse to sign the stipulation in furture years.


FTK

Thanks Soc!!

One more question

The amount of the tuition she is responsible for will change from year to year.  We send her a payment schedule with the amount at the beginning of each school year.  The schedule for this year was sent in July 2004.


1) What would be the best way to update the order that would not require another signed stipulation from BM?  (ie letters from the school, etc...)

Thanks
FTK

Hi Soc,

Santa Clara County, CA

BM and DH stipulated (filed) agreement states that BM is responsible for 50% of the children's private school tuition.

Exact Text from Agreement:
**Effective November 2003 the Mother shall reimburse her share (50%) of the Private School Tuition directly to the Father.  The Father will provide a payment schedule for the current school year to the Mother within 1 week of the effective date of this agreement and at the beginning of every subsequent school year to the Mother.
**

Schedule for this School Year was provided via US Mail Delivery Confirmation on July 21, 2004.  It contains the due date and the monthly payment amount she is to make.  (We tried sending Certified, but she doesn't pick them up)

I noticed on the Garnishment form there is a space for "other".

1) Could we garnish BM's wages for the Tuition reimbursement also?

2) Would we need to have the agreement modified to include the amount she is responsible for?  (This amount changes from year to year)

3) If it is possible to garnish her wages for the Tuition reimbursement also, what documents would we need to provide to get the garnishment signed by the courts?

Thanks for all of your help!!!
FTK

Santa Clara, CA

In May 2004 DH and BM stipulated to a CS amount effective Jan 2004.  This document has been notarized and filed.

BM has not been working since Dec. 2003, but will be employed again shortly.

DH would like to have BM's wages garnished for CS when she is employed.  (She is consistently 1 month in arrears)

1) Is there a form that needs to be filled out and signed by the court for garnishment?

2) Will a copy of the order be sufficient for the employer?

3) Would BM be able to file to have the CS amount reduced?


Thanks!!

Santa Clara County, CA

BM is ordered to pay 1/2 of Private school tution plus Child Support.

She had not paid either in 2 months, she finally cuts a check, it bounces.

1) Can we press charges against her for the bad check (it is almost $1k)?

2) Who do we report it to?

3) Should we file contempt for non payment on the amounts that bounced and the current amount ?  (Another tuition payment was due yesterday and CS tomorrow)

Thanks!
FTK

BM is court ordered to pay the following directly to DH

-Child Support (due on the 27th of the month)
-50% Private School Tuition (due on the 25th of the month)
-50% of Medical Expenses (Billed Monthly, Due 30 days after billing)

BM is now past due on CS, Tuition and 2 months of Medical Expenses.  Total Amount Past Due approx $1,100.

BM has been late on ALL of her payments in the past 6 months (usually not more than 10 days though)

We have sent reminder letters, post cards, etc... to BM with the amounts due and dates.

DH wants to file contempt charges.

Questions

1) Should DH wait to file contempt until the CS and Tuition amounts are more than 30 days past due?

2) Should DH file contempt on all violations, even the ones in the past that she has paid?

3) What is a normal "grace" period for making those payments?

Thanks!
FTK

As you told me below the CS will be retroactive to the date DCSS filed with the court 1/27/2004. (Even though DH and BM are stipulating to the amount)  

Once the agreement is signed she will automatically be in arrears.

Questions.

1) How long should we give her to pay it?

2) Will interest be charged starting the day the agreement is signed or will it be retroactive if she doesn't hand over a check that day?

I just want to make sure this whole thing is done by the book.

Thanks!
FTK