Messages

The part that is confusing is

2) The maximum part of the aggregate disposable earnings of an individual for any workweek which is subject to garnishment to enforce any order for the support of any person shall not exceed:
(A) where such individual is supporting his spouse or dependent child (other than a spouse or child with respect to whose support such order is used), 50 per centum of such individual's disposable earnings for that week; and

My attorney says that the part "(other than a spouse or child with respect to whose support such order is used)" really refers to a second ex-spouse. Does anyone else see that?

The problem is that I have been borrowing heavily so that I can pay child support because my unemployment benefits were delayed several months. Now that I finally received those benefits, the Judge has ordered me to pay 100% of it. There must be a max. amount they can take. I must be allowed to have something to support myself.

I showed my attorney the federal restrictions on garnishment law (Title 15, Chapter 41, Subchapter II) and he just laughed and said it doesn't apply to me. WTF?

Thanks for the reply. I have done everything you already stated. The problem is that I had filed for a CS mod. months ago. The Judge already granted me a temp. CS mod. in the Spring which I was coerced to accept even though I couldn't afford it. This effectively eliminated the daycare costs which I had been needlessly paying for many, many, many years. This is something that should have been eliminated years ago.

I am earning only 1/3 my original wages with my CS order based well above the guidelines. This is a recipe for failure by anyone's standards.

The court is delaying my CS downward requests every time I go to court. Too many months have passed and I still have not received a CS mod. based on the guidelines. The state is also screwing me by wrongfully withholding my earned benefits while at the same time holding me ransom in family court. I am being choked by the same state that complains I am not paying enough in CS. The reality is that the state needs to be sued. But how?

Anyway, I am just trying to survive day-to-day knowing I will be in contempt of court soon and threatened with jail time for something outside of my control which I cannot afford.

Hi everyone.
I had lost my job and have been struggling trying to find a new job. The court ordered me to pay an outrageous and arbitrary CS amount when I had no income. Now that I found a new full-time temp job, the judge refuses to lower the CS award according to the guidelines. I am earning much less than I used to through no fault of my own. I am also afraid that I will be found in contempt of court again if I don't pay the full CS amount. This is an impossible task to do. I have extraordinary travel expenses to work, combined with taxes removed from my pay, and a higher than guideline CS order leaves me with pocket money or nothing to live on depending on the week. This temp job has no benefits and involves risks associated with construction.

My question is this: Since my travel expenses to and from work amount to 33% gross income, what should I do?

1. Should I quit my job and find something closer to home? I will probably earn less but I am certain that the judge will still refuse to give me a CS downward mod. based on my wages.

2. Can my extraordinary travel expenses be excluded from my gross income or when calculating disposable income for the purpose of calculating CS? Apparently the court chooses to ignore the reality and they are making CS impossible to pay in full because of this.

3. Is there a way I can get the court to follow the CS guidelines so that I am able to pay some of my living expenses?

Apparently the judge thinks that I can survive having practically all my income taken from me. I have reached the point of basically giving up trying pay so much. It is not worth the construction related risks to continue this way.

My wife was bit on the hand by her dog and she had to go to the hospital over the weekend. She had 2 punctures and several red lines traveling up her arm from blood poisoning/infection. She is ok now and should be coming home soon.

She tells me that one of the first questions she was asked by the nurse when she got to the hospital was if her husband did this to her?

Well, I was floored but at the same time I have come to expect this sort of thing knowing how the DV industry operates. I feel this is gender profiling. I wonder if any guys are asked the same question when the genders are reversed when they go to the hospital?

This goes beyond discipline. The physical and emotional abuse part may be hard to prove. It also sounds like your ex is trying to alienate your side of the family and that is a form of child abuse in my book. Problem is that the system will treat your ex with kid gloves and give her special protection. Trying to prove anything will probably get extremely expensive too. First thing, I would keep a journal of when the abuse occurs. Always maintain a good relationship with your daughter and let her know that she is safe with you. In a few years she will be able to make important decisions regarding where she is living. A few years will go by fast so be ready. Make sure the alienation doesn't get worse as well.

I smell a troll, LOL! And not worth a long response either.

Let's stay on topic with the thread and stay away from personal attacks in the best interest of SPARC and everyone here. Thanks!

Already tried that. Counseling or as the court termed it as 'treatment' was the initial step. To make a long story short, The court ordered that all parties to follow the social worker's treatment plans. This went on for over 2 years. Once the children decided not go to treatment, the mother decided not to schedule treatment visits. At the same time, the social worker says he can't order treatment for the kids if they don't want to go. So I was left with no one willing to follow the court order. I ended up filing a motion of contempt of court because treatment was not being scheduled. As soon as I did, the mother paid the social worker off to file a patient discharge report, thereby officially ending treatment. I explained it all to the judge, but she said there was no contempt of court. How could there not be? Only in Family Court.

So that brought me to the present phase. The only way dad has a chance of ever seeing his children, he has to solely pay for a GAL on top of astronomical CS. Funny how that doesn't fit into the CS equation. That makes it impossible to pay. No government assistance programs for NCPs either. Plenty of assistance programs for CPs though! Doesn't matter anyway, kids are at the age where they would tell the GAL that they don't want to continue and the court would probably agree. It all comes down to how PAS is very difficult to deal with especially when the court appointed cronies purposely look the other way.

Yes, it is family court and dad has no visits. False allegations and a TRO many years ago is the reason. TRO turned into a RO since the court decided it could simply continue a TRO indefinitely and at their own descretion without any valid reason. Children are getting older and have no interest in bonding with their father after years gone by. They feel abandoned by dad and will not believe in anything else. They simply don't recognize their father as dad and refuse to do so. Part of that has to do with mom's live-in BF of many years, but now he is gone. It mainly has to do with all the negative stories and lies that CP mom keeps drilling in the children's head. At this stage, their is nothing a father can do to see his children. The system will make dad solely pay for a GAL which he cannot afford as the next step. All a GAL will do is say that the children are old enough to decide on their own after dad if forced to pay several thousands of dollars above and beyond an astronomical CS award. My experience is that the court appointed social workers look the other way when it comes to PAS. I am sure that GALs will too. I've been in the fight for well over 10 years now, nothing changed for the better.

The intent of my intial post was not to find a solution, but rather as something others here may learn by..

I always say: Isn't it amazing that the system has absolutely zero programs available to help fathers see their children? Of course because they are in the business to do the opposite under the disguise labelled as "BEST INTEREST".