Child Support Hearing

[heavenly2]

 Dear Socrateaser,
 
 My husband received notice that he is to appear in court the 9th of March for a child support hearing. The state is Arkansas.
 
 His ex wife filed for more child support in April of 2004. (After we got the arrearages paid off) Support went from 110.00 weekly to 62.00 weekly.
 
 I have been off work for approximately  2 years due to a work related back injury and operation, and I am getting weekly checks from work comp. 2/3 of pay at time of injury = 167.15 weekly.

 My husband has been working for the same rate of pay for 3years. 8.00 an hour.

 We do not have an Attorney.
  Here are our questions..............

 1. Is there anyway that my husband can show a hardship since I am unable to work and the burden of most of our bills are now on him?


2. Can you tell us what we will need to take or do to prepare for this?

3. In state of Arkansas can they use MY income to figure the amount of child support he will pay, in regard to raising it?

4. Do you think there is a chance that they will raise it on the info I have given you?

5. If they do raise it will they go all the way back to last April when she filed, and cause us to be in arrears?

 It says that he does not have to appear ,but if he doesn't it could cause the judgement to go against him.

6. He wants to know if it's just a waste of time or should he go?
 
 I personally think he should go, to dispute any thing that may be wrong in their records or that his exwife may have lied about.

 I have another topic to discuss with you and ask your advice on but I will put it in another post.

 I sincerely thank you for your help.
           God Bless,
           Heavenly2
 

[socrateaser]

>  Here are our questions..............
>
> 1. Is there anyway that my husband can show a hardship since
>I am unable to work and the burden of most of our bills are
>now on him?

Depends on AR law. Some states have a low income hardship exception that permits the court to make a lower award then what's in the guidelines. Also, he can argue that your condition makes the guideline support unjust and inappropriate under the circumstances, and therefore that support should be lowered from the guidelines.

>
>
>2. Can you tell us what we will need to take or do to prepare
>for this?

Records of your disability. An income and expense statement from an accountant showing that a support award of more than $X will cause you to fall to a negative cash flow and eventually drive you into bankruptcy.

>
>3. In state of Arkansas can they use MY income to figure the
>amount of child support he will pay, in regard to raising it?

No.

>4. Do you think there is a chance that they will raise it on
>the info I have given you?

The only way to know that is if I have all of your financial info and all of the other parent's. I don't have enough facts, plus I don't know the AR guidelines, so even if I did, I'd have to research it. You may be able to find a support calculator for your jurisdiction online or at your courthouse, but I don't have time to do the research at the moment -- sorry.

>
>5. If they do raise it will they go all the way back to last
>April when she filed, and cause us to be in arrears?

It's a possibility.

>
> It says that he does not have to appear ,but if he doesn't it
>could cause the judgement to go against him.

If he doesn't appear he will lose. Count on it.

>
>6. He wants to know if it's just a waste of time or should he
>go?

Well, if it were my money, I'd be fighting to hang on to it.

[ArkStepMom]

Here is the Child Support Guideline for Arkansas http://courts.state.ar.us/pdf/child_support_monthlychart.pdf
you may find other helpful information at this address also http://courts.state.ar.us/courts/acs_guidelines.html

We are in Arkansas.  When we returned to court to attempt winning custody from CP and lost, the new order stipulated a new, higher rate of support based on income and it was retroactive to the date of filing, leaving arrears for the difference.

Good luck, hope this helps