Motion To Modify

[jilly]

I got home from work today and there was a notice from the Sheriff's Department that they had been by to serve a Motion on my DH.  The Deputy gave his cell phone number and I called him to let him know I was home.  He wasn't able to come back to our house but he told me that it's a Motion to Modify Child Support to Apply Money Towards Arrears.  The alleged amount is $700.00.  He is going to bring it back by our house tomorrow and leave it in the mailbox so I can see exactly what it is and what it says. I know that DH is not that much in arrears to his Ex.
 
Has anybody every been served with this type Motion? I've never heard of or seen one.

[MixedBag]

Jilly,

Sounds like your DH's EX doesn't agree about the amount Dad is in arrears.

OR could it be that she wants more money each month put towards to arrears??  You know some judges make the amount towards to arrears really small which means it takes forever for the NCP to really catch up.

Hang in there -- I know it's hard -- you've got your head screwed on straight .... keep it there and keep it focused.

[jilly]

Hi Mixed,

Yeah...she's been harping about him being $700.00 in arrears for months now.  There had been an OSC from October (which was never served) and it came back up again either in December or January. He was served wih that OSC about 3 days before the hearing date. He called the Clerk's office and blessed them out!  (I love him but he's about a sublte as an elephant sometimes! LOL) He found out from the Clerk that he didn't need to be there because he was caught up.  The problem is he has two separate child support orders, so any money paid in to the State is divided between the two.  Heaven forbid they should give each one the amount they should get instead of dividing it between them.  That would make too much sense! LOL

I really think what started this is she got mad Valentine's Day weekend.  When DH picked up his DD on that Friday he told his ex that I wasn't at home because I had gone to visit my best friend in England.  He told me she did not look happy at all.  So, I'm thinking she decided if I could afford a trip to go see my friend that DH could afford to pay her more child support.  The only reason I went is because I got a really good deal on airfare.  Payment for the airfare came out of MY paycheck.  DH didn't contribute any money at all. (We have separate checking accounts.)  It just worked out that DH was able to pay bills that were due out of his paycheck so I could use some of my paycheck for airfare and spending money.

He used to pay CS for his daughter with ex directly to her.  We got a downward modification in 2000 because DH was out of work.  When he started back to work she didn't think she was getting CS fast enough from him so she went to court to have it withheld from his check.  No skin off DH's nose...just made it easier for him!  But that meant he no longer wrote the check to her...it went to the State.  OF course now she gripes to him when the State doesn't get a check to her fast enough and expects him to go to the Clerk's office to pay it.  Pisses her off royally when he tells her he can't do that because it's already come out of his check and that her beef is with the State! LOL  Gotta love it when the ex's shoot themselves in the foot!

That's what I'm thinking...she wants more money applied towards arrears but until I see the actual Motion I can't say for sure.  There's also the possiblility that it's an actual modification PLUS she's asking for the arrears to be paid.  Again, just gonna have to wait and see.  I'm going to call the Clerk's office today as well to see what they say the arrears are.  I really think that any amount he may be in arrears is going to be caught up by the time he gets to court because it takes time for the State to catch up.  I think somebody recently posted something about that type of situation.

I think what I'm going to advise DH to do if he does have to go to court is:

1)  Tell the Judge that he's not able to pay the arrears off at one time but that he would be more than happy to buy clothes, pay for after school care or other needs of SD up to the amount he is in arrears.  I'm sure she'll have a cow over that one but I think the Judge may see that as reasonable.  She'd much rather have the money since she's not working and she and her second husband have separated.

2) If it is for a modification plus arrears, request that the Judge order ex to find a job and provide proof to the court that she is looking for a job as she has an equal responsibility to provide financially for their daughter and that he should not carry the burden of support because she's not working.  I don't know if he should also state that he has a child living in the home that he has to support as well.  That might bite him in the butt since I work and the Judge could just look at it as he has my income to help support our daugther.

So....we'll just have to wait and see how this all plays out.  Should be interesting! LOL

[jilly]

and she said that DH is $800.38 in arrears!!  This is a combination of current amount due plus balance due and includes payment received yesterday.  I have no idea why they're showing he's that far in arrears.  Guess he needs to request a print out from them.

CS has been coming out of his check directly for over a year.  He was about a week or two behind in September but that has since been caught up.  He had been working as a contract employee but, again, CS was coming out of his check.  He has been on the payroll as an employee for two weeks now and CS hasn't started being withheld yet.  I mailed a CS check on Tuesday of this week, which obviously posted yesterday. DH will be writing another check today for CS.  He went to HR yesterday and gave them copies of both CSOs so they can go ahead and start taking CS out of his check.  He doesn't want them to wait to get the Orders from Court.  It's still going to take 2 weeks before CS starts coming out of his check so he'll have one more week of writing the check and mailing payment in.

Arggghhhh!! This stuff drives me nuts! LOL