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I am nervous about what the ex will tell the judge when asked if she is "able" to work.  She has no impairments or disabilities to prevent her from working - she's very much employable.  She always falls back on her religion, stating that she believes children are better off at home, instead of in daycare, she wants to homeschool, etc. etc.  I know she will come up with something.  

The only child at home will be five in November - and as far as I know, he has no special needs.  He appears to be perfectly normal.  

The ex lives on an acreage, and grows a vegetable garden, and raises chickens, so she periodically sells eggs and vegetables and other homemade goods on Saturday mornings at a local farmers market in town.  She hasn't been doing that though since she started this review action.  That should also prove she is able to work, hopefully.  I just don't trust her - she is very underhanded.  I am really nervous about this.  

What paperwork did you take with you to give to the judge regarding imputing the X's income?

Yep, I'm in Sioux City.  My husband and his X don't get along AT ALL.  Lots of animosity.  It's very stressful.  She's very vindictive - it's just really a waste of energy for everyone.  I hope to get this CSRU issue resolved soon so I can not worry about it for another two years!  

I think once my stepkids are older, at least one of them will ask to live with us.  It's a sad situation.

This was very helpful - thank you!  You have an Iowa child support case also?  I looked up the median income for a legal secretary on the IWD website - I can't believe it!  It says the median income in our region (12) is $13.36 an hour!  That is huge for us!  I did the support estimator online again, and it brought the support down to $786.00 from $872.00.  We do claim the $25 in medical expenses.  Can we claim our health insurance premium if it is just myself, my husband, and our daughter?  His X opted to have her husband carry the insurance on the 2 kids in question because she doesn't want to have to carry around 2 sets of insurance cards.  So - I bet only she can claim the insurance premiums.  But still - if we can get the judge to impute her wages based on the median wage for legal secretaries, that would be so great.  Was it hard for you to convince the judge to do it for you?

I cannot find an attorney to agree to impute her potential income based on her previous work.  I know they won't look at her husband's income - but they look at mine!  I don't think my income should be considered since the children are not mine either.  But, CSRU claims they must look at my income to "get a better picture of how much my husband can contribute."  It's totally biased towards the custodial parent, even though she has more money and resources than we do.  

We are going to contest the order and request a hearing, but I'm not very optimistic that a judge will deviate from the guidelines.  Not much history of it unless there are extenuating circumstances - such as large amounts of medical bills.  We'll see what happens.

We do claim one of the kids as a tax deduction.  We are in Iowa, and the guidelines here are so bizarre.  The X stays home all day, so no need for any child care.  4 of the 5 kids are in school all day, the youngest will be 5 in November.  In Iowa, for an administrative review and adjustment, you don't have to have a substantial change in circumstances.  A review and adjustment can be requested every two years, and if my husband has had a 20% increase in his gross wages, the support will be increased.  That works out to about $5k in wage increases in 2 years, which he has had.  So because she has zero income, my husband has to give her over 35% of his net wages in support, even though the x's husband makes more than my husband!  I have contacted 2 lawyers, and both told me we are basically "screwed" - the judge won't deviate from the guidelines unless one of us has major medical issues.  So, the X gets to stay home and do nothing all day (she's not much of a domestic goddess) while the kids are in school, while my husband and I break our backs to make sure she gets another new suburban to drive, and gets to take nice trips to Mexico.  It's just not right, and I can't find anyone to help us try to make the support payments equitable.  

Hi everyone, I am new to the forum.  And I desperately need advice.  My husband was married previously, and has two children, ages 9 and 7.  His ex-wife was a legal secretary, and her boss did her divorce work for free.  My husband was in school and not working at the time of the divorce, so he couldn't afford his own attorney.  There was no distribution of marital debt – he got stuck with over $100,000 in debt she helped him accrue, and he got stuck paying $502.40 per month in support.  Her attorney based it off of my husband's last job before he started school, telling him that if he claimed no income, the judge wouldn't let him see his kids.  

His ex got remarried two months after their divorce was final, and was already pregnant again.  As soon as their divorce was final, she quit her job and hasn't worked since – that was six years ago.  We have gone through every legal battle imaginable with her, including custody disputes because she refused to let us have visitation.  She has five kids total now, and stays at home, even though 4 of 5 kids are in school all day.  

She is now claiming financial hardship, even though she gets support from us, and her husband makes more than mine does, but she still refuses to get a job.  This is a woman who just went on a week long trip to Mexico.  My husband and I both work full-time jobs, and we have a 16 month old daughter that we have to send to daycare full-time, which is not cheap.  

We received paperwork from the child support recovery unit two days ago stating that his ex is seeking an administrative review and adjustment.  Because she has no income, my husband pays her 35.7% of his net income.  I did the child support estimator online, and I show that his support is going to go from $502.40 per month to $872.00 per month.  This is going to kill us financially.  We are already in the process of selling our house because our ARM interest rate just went up 3% and we can't afford the payments.  We can't refinance because my husband had to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy last summer to get rid of all the debt his ex left him with, so his credit is bad.  We are going to end up renting an apartment now.  

I contacted a lawyer and asked if we should contest the child support findings and request a hearing, but was told it won't do us any good.  Judges always go off the numbers pursuant to the guidelines, even though we will be living in poverty.  So, his ex can sit at home all day and not work, but we have to bust our butts to pay her more money, and our little girl is going to suffer now?  No one cares that we can't adequately support our child because his ex refuses to get a job and help support her own children!   I can't find anyone to help us!  This can't be right!