my husband's X filed petition to modify 6 weeks after we were married....help!

[srgraumenz]

Hello to all, I'm new to the forum and need help! I just married my husband 8 months ago and he has 3 children from a previous marriage. I've been single all my life and worked all my life. His X filed a petition to modify his child support agreement 6 weeks after we got married and is wanting more money. He is already paying the 32% required by the state of Illinois for 3 kids plus he pays all the medical and dental and vision insurance for them and 1/2 of all their school and extracurricular activities. The petition to modify was filed in madison county in november and they still are in court proceedings...
My husband and I live in Missouri and were married in missouri sept of 2004. I have only known my husband for 1 yr and the petition to modify was filed 10 months after the original settlement was signed off on by a judge.
I work full time and have all of my life and i'm financially secure. My husband and i have NO joint assets nor accounts as we've been married less than a yr and she came after us right away!! I'm EXTREMELY scared that my assets are going to be used against me in some way.
His X DOES NOT work full time and keeps working less and less as the court date keeps getting pushed back......she was working 21 hrs a week and only making $600 month and now she is working less than that!! My husband already pays $1300 a month and all the additional expenses and he doesn't have any money left over for us but yet is in court!! Can anyone help us or do you have any suggestions??? Like i said we have only been married 8 months and this all started 6 weeks after our wedding date....2 of the kids are old enough to stay at home by themselves so she could work full time plus she is receiving money from CHASI for daycare.....so it blows our mind that we are going thru this and she is very capable of working 40 hrs a week.....Isn't she responsible for making enough money to take care of her own expenses????
Help!!!
and thank you.

[joni]

Welcome to the rest of your life.

However, I see a silver lining here.  You need to defend this strongly and follow the law, child support is what child support is.  It is what it is.  Follow the state guidelines with regards to the child support and the Ex will learn a lesson from this.

IL does not consider the custodial parent's income in the calculation, only the noncustodial parent.   So it doesn't matter how much money she's making or how much she could be making or how lazy she is.  Don't focus on that, it's not relevant.

KEEP YOUR ASSETS SEPARATE for the rest of your married life.  The next house you buy, put it in your name.  As long as your separate, the Ex cannot look at your financial records.  This is a lesson learned for you.

The only thing you may be able to challenge is the amount of child care.  Perhaps this would be an opportunity to get that amount reduced.

There's a discussion a month ago on this board from Illinois with regards to child support you might want to read for information:

http://www.deltabravo.net/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=163&topic_id=2628&mode=full&page=

[srgraumenz]

But they cannot make me pay for her kids and her not work......that is ridiculous.   We do have everything separate from an asset standpoint and also file married filing separately on our tax return for 2004.   I just don't understand how they can expect him to pay anymore than 32% when she chooses not to work and IF she had NO children, she wouldn't be able to support herself.    It is NOT my husband's responsibility to support her expenses anymore.   If he's responsible for her expenses than he should be responsible for every woman's expenses in the US who choose not to work.....  I'm not sure what you mean by getting the child care reduced??  
I should not be responsible for some other woman's choices that she made 13 yrs ago to have 3 kids.......that's insane.   I chose NOT to have kids and to pursue a career and NOW I'm being punished????   I don't think so....    Don't worry we are fighting but we need as much ammunition as possible and I find it incredibly hard to believe that they would award her more money when she is physically able to cover her own expenses by working full time.  AND when my husband is paying the 32% that illinois requires.
thanks for your response!

[joni]

you really need to settle down here

this is the rest of your life and you have to emotionally detach from this situation or you will drive yourself insane...trust me....I have experience with this....you are becoming blind and deaf already  ;-)

reread my prior message, child support is figured on the noncustodial parent's salary....not the mom's salary and certainly NOT the new stepmother's salary

I also recommended that you continue to keep your finances separate from your new husband so that the ex wife CANNOT look at any of your financial information when your husband comes up for child support review in the future

since your husband is following the guideline at 32%, he'll continue to pay that %

you said two of the older kids don't need child care, you should focus on getting that recognized by the court so you can potentially reduce your monthly child care expense