a question

[mickey26]

I have my sons 40% of the time, there mother makes $1.00 less a hour than me. I hurt my knee in march and have had to swich jobs. Now i am only making $9.00 per hour.  I am paying 150.00 a week in child support. I have a court date in two weeks to hopefull get my support made less. We live in ny does any one know how much i should be paying. The boys mother does not send anything to my home. The boys have any thing that they could need at my house. Last year there mother would not send there winter boots and coats over to my home so i had to go get a set for my home also. My older son is in a size 7 shoe his mom was sending him to my house in his shoe that were for her house that were a size 5 1/2. He had a set of shoe at my house, i went and got him new shoe to send him back to him mother house in. I get there hair cuts every 6 weeks and got them school clothes, and supplys, there mother told me that she could not get them the things that they needed for school due to her being out of work having a new baby, with her live in boyfriend. With me having my sones 40% of the time and getting things for there mother house will that make my support less.  any help would be helpful.

[shawneetears]

First of all it will depend on the state that support is being determined in.
For my state (NC) there are specific charts that cover shared parenting vs standard custody/visitation and split arrangements (where the children are divided between the parents)
Then there are issues of standard review times and change of circumstances....here standard review is 3 yrs from last review...if less than three years you have to show a change of circumstance  AND if that change doesn't constitute a change in the award amount that is at least 15%  (so for 100 a week it would have to make it an increase or decrease of 15 dollars a week) everything stays the same till the next review...which will be 3 years from the most recent order (ie if you had an order set in Jan 2000 and in Jan 2002 you attempted a change of circumstance and it was denied, the next review would not be till Jan 2005 unless there is another change in circumstance)
Further... if the last order was initially based on standard visitation and you are now getting 40% (here it is 120 overnights or more) of the time; this alone may make a significant difference.
As I said the above only pertains to NC and your state may be different....  generally you can look up your states child support enforcement office and get the most recent rules and charts.
As to the other.... well as one judge once told me.... it's not illegal to be an a##hole. (though heaven knows it should be sometimes)  I went through something very similar and eventually I simply took responsibility for maintaining a seperate wardrobe  (I am afraid I am rather conservative when it comes to what I feel is appropriate for and 8 yr old girl to wear)  so what I would do is allow them to send the children to me in whatever they chose to but all they were to bring with them was toiletries (and I really didnt' worry about that) and a favorite toy.  When they arrived they changed clothes and I put their other home clothes in a bag.  When it came time to go back they put on the clothes they came in.  If the clothes were really bad or did not fit I would find a way to get a picture (document document) and if (especially shoes) it was just impossible we would pick up some dollar shoes (tennis shoes are $2.50 at walmart) or go to a really clean thrift store or yard sale and get whatever was needed so they could at least have appropriate (if not new) clothes to be seen in public in.  Other than that, just forget about it.
School supplies....get a list of things from the school and only get half of what is on that list..... or get just what is on the list and take it to the school so the teacher is aware that they DO have all the supplies that were asked for.... dont' get fancy....be thrifty...looseleaf paper, bulk pencils/pens, generic.....  at least you can be assured you have done your part.  
My gut reaction is to tell the CP to get a second job if what you send isn't enough.  The thing is you are getting them a good deal of the time....and they are your children so of course you don't want them to go without....short of denying them there isn't a whole lot of recourse....  but keep all receipts...the more detailed the better...and document document document.....  everything...time you have the children, what you did, what you spent and what for....
Your court may or may not take all that into consideration.  They may also consider any expenses that have increased due to your injury.
Hope this helps.

wish you all the best life has to offer!  :)

[ocean]

Hi,
I am in NY too. It is strickly a formula here. 17%of your income for one child. Does not matter what ex is making. You can see if they will grant you some money your way since you have 40% visitation but do not count on it. Also, in NY, you must pay $25/ month even if you do not have a job.  I would bring the receipts of all the extra things especially the school items and see if that could be set up as a 50/50 split or get you a credit. If they do say you pay the full amount, see if they will write that mom must supply clothes to fathers house. Also, bring the 40% documentation with you. I think there is a spread sheet on this website that you can fill in showing your past schedule. Bring a recent paystub showing the new difference in pay. (one with no overtime).  Good luck and let us know what happens  :)