question from New Jersey

[infoman]

Hi. I moved out of the family home about 18 months ago. Our divorce was final this past month. Our temp orders had me paying the mortgage and child support. Our final orders have me paying permanent alimony to my ex (slightly higher amount the first year to help her establish herself) and child support. We have joint legal, with her being the parent of primary residence.

My ex advised me that the power was cut off today due to a back balance (current month bill is paid) created since I have moved out of the home. She has asked me to keep the children overnight tonight, after my regular time with them, because of the lack of power.

1. Is there anything that I can do to take advantage of this situation?

Thanks,

infoman

[msme]

Yes, document, document, document & enjoy the extra time with your kids. If this becomes a regular happening, it may be grounds for a change of custody but she will probably try to use it to get an increase in CS, down the road.

How much parenting time do you get? How did you get stuck with permanent alimony? What exactly does that mean? If she remarries, do you still have to pay? If she gets a better job than you, do you still have to pay? It sounds like your lawyer let you down.

You never get a second chance to make a first impression!

[CustodyIQ]

Hi,

If this becomes a pattern, it's helpful to your position to modify custody.

But a single occurrence?  Everyone makes mistakes, and that's how the court will view it.

She'd actually IMPRESS the court that she gave you the kids overnight while she took care of the problem.  Some parents would rather the kids suffer, rather than give a single minute of extra time to the other parent.

[cinb85]

Can't seem to post to original post.

[cinb85]

Just curious because I've been having problems with the CS Office in our area.