My ex-wife and I seperated 3 years ago after she began seeing someone else. When we first split, she took the kids, a new minivan, and pretty much everything in the house and left me with all of the bills. I had her and the kids on my health insurance through work. We agreed that I would pay her 500 dollars per month for the two children and coninue to pay the note and insurance on the van she was driving which came to a total of about $1000 a month. Shortly after, she got a job with better insurance so I agreed to give her an extra $200 dollars a month which more than covered the premium on the kids. In the divorce settlement, we agreed that I would continue to pay $700 per month cash and the note and insurance on the van. Once the van is paid off, I would give her $1300/ month. Since then, I have been advised to put the van in her name for liablilty reasons and she has had several tickets/ accidents that have raised the insurance premiums. I am currently paying a total of $1488/ month. To add insult to injury, she hasn't held down a job so has put the kids on Medicaid which of course costs her nothing.
The second issue and really the biggest issue is the custody and visitation for my two children. I have a 13 yr old daughter and a 9 yr old son. In the settlement, I am supposed to get them every other weekend and 1 week in the summer. This worked out OK at first but has went way downhill. My ex has went off of the deep end with partying and dating as evidenced by her MySpace page and what my son tells me. She has recently taken in one of my daughter's friends as an "adoptive daughter" and seems to be supporting her with some of the money meant for my two. This has also created a situation where my daughter is no longer coming out most weekends that I should have her. In the past three months, I have had her one weekend and I had to keep the "extra girl" to get that. I am very concerned with what my kids are being exposed to but I don't have real hard evidence of anything very wrong. My other concern is that both of the kids are very close to her and I don't want to hurt them by trying to take custody.
I have remarried since the divorce and have a daughter on the way with my new wife. My ex seems to go out of her way to cause problems at my house since I remarried. I feel like she is using my daughter to spy on us and in the process turning her against us. I make it a point to not talk about my ex at all around either of the kids unless they bring it up and I never say anything negative. We agreed to this as part of the divorce settlement but i do not feel that she is honoring it.
I have been thinking about getting an attorney to re-do the divorce settlement but don't know what to ask for. I know that I need to do something with the situation with the kids but I don't know a good solution. I also need to get the support payments back in line and have the wording changed so that when my daughter turns 18, support is cut in half.
Does anyone have any suggestions from a similar situation? Thanks in advance for the help.
The second issue and really the biggest issue is the custody and visitation for my two children. I have a 13 yr old daughter and a 9 yr old son. In the settlement, I am supposed to get them every other weekend and 1 week in the summer. This worked out OK at first but has went way downhill. My ex has went off of the deep end with partying and dating as evidenced by her MySpace page and what my son tells me. She has recently taken in one of my daughter's friends as an "adoptive daughter" and seems to be supporting her with some of the money meant for my two. This has also created a situation where my daughter is no longer coming out most weekends that I should have her. In the past three months, I have had her one weekend and I had to keep the "extra girl" to get that. I am very concerned with what my kids are being exposed to but I don't have real hard evidence of anything very wrong. My other concern is that both of the kids are very close to her and I don't want to hurt them by trying to take custody.
I have remarried since the divorce and have a daughter on the way with my new wife. My ex seems to go out of her way to cause problems at my house since I remarried. I feel like she is using my daughter to spy on us and in the process turning her against us. I make it a point to not talk about my ex at all around either of the kids unless they bring it up and I never say anything negative. We agreed to this as part of the divorce settlement but i do not feel that she is honoring it.
I have been thinking about getting an attorney to re-do the divorce settlement but don't know what to ask for. I know that I need to do something with the situation with the kids but I don't know a good solution. I also need to get the support payments back in line and have the wording changed so that when my daughter turns 18, support is cut in half.
Does anyone have any suggestions from a similar situation? Thanks in advance for the help.