How to Word an Emergency Order?

[socrateaser]

>Soc -
>
>20% of our income is $200, so plus the $20 in arrears (from
>birth, because we haven't been behind since the order),
>wouldn't it be about $220?

It will be whatever the guidelines say. IL is a more expensive jurisdiction, so its guidelines are higher. I don't know IL law in this area, so I'm not gonna be much help.

>
>Does Illinois law take into account any other children the
>non-custodial parent has? I know some states do, and some
>states don't care unless they are paying child support for
>those kids. We have a 3-year-old son, and another child coming
>in September (our last).

I don't know. Usually, only children who are subject to a support order can be considered. Your children don't count, unless the payor parent is ordered to pay support on your children.

>As regards finances, we own our home and both of our cars. So
>our monthly expenses are a bit lower than they might be for
>others. It really helps.

Depending on the state guidelines, these facts could actually work against you. In CA, for example, the more interest deduction that a person has on his or her tax return, the more money that's available to pay support, and conseqeuently, the support obligation is increased.

Sucks, don't it?

>
>On an amusing but unrelated note...I inadvertently found out
>that mom's husband was recently served with some sort of legal
>papers in the process of finding out about ours - they have a
>really uncommon hyphenated last name, so there was a bit of
>confusion. I don't think I am supposed to know that, though.
>Perhaps it means a court date they need to stick around OR
>for.
>
>P.S. We just received the affidavit of service in the mail.

OK, well, so the other parent has your notice. I will try to work up a motion for an order to show cause to modify custody this weekend, and then we will take it from there. In anticipation of this, I need you to give me a very precise chronology of all of the events that have led up to today. EX:

1. ??/??/?? met other person.
2. ??/??/?? child born.
3. ??/??/?? judgment entered.
4. ??/??/?? someone moves somewhere.
5. ??/??/?? child visited me at my home in ___.
etc.

Also, I need you tell me, in your own words, why you believe the child's circumstances are changed, such that you should be awarded more time with the child. This is critical. The things that have changed in your life may have been great, but that's not what the court is primarily interested in. The court will want to know how the child's life has changed and how being with you more will either remedy the negative changes or improve the positive changes.

Don't get caught talking about how what you have to offer will improve the child's life, unless you can connect what you're offerring to things that have already happened to the child.

email all of this to me. and think about it for a while before you sent it, because it needs to be deadly accurate, as you will be swearing to it under oath.

PS. If I do all of this, I will expect substantial a donation to my favorite charity...which is, of course -- me.

[Lyrael924]

And how substantial would that donation be?

[socrateaser]

Any donation amount (or whether to make a donation, at all) will be entirely left to your discretion. I expect no money for what I do here. however, if you choose to make a gift horse at some point, I'm certainly not gonna look it in the mouth.

[Lyrael924]

Soc-
I will get my husband's answers to all of those this weekend after some careful discussion and much thinking.

Although I am not sure how to prove that having his dad in his life would definitely positively affect him. I believe that it is important for children to know their dads, but how do you argue that in front of a judge? We decided to do this now because he will be able to leave his mom for visits without the trauma that a 3-year-old would go through. He also does not have to deal with flying alone, as he would have from Hawaii.

He can travel with his dad back and forth. If we were to see him again, regularly, he (meaning son) would not be experiencing the trauma of growing up without a dad, and feeling abandoned. He would have an opportunity to get to know his extended family, and his siblings. (Am I treading into what we have to offer him here?)

I guess I am just confused as to how to argue why kids need their dads. Especially after four years of not seeing him. And very little input from her except what he wants for Xmas and his birthday. Is him moving to the continental US not enough of a change in circumstances?

I also wondered...with custody being a separate matter from visitation, are you anticipating that son's mom will initiate a child support review, or that the judge will decide to? Son's mom said she won't show up in court for any hearings there might be, although that doesn't guarantee she won't.

[Lyrael924]

Oh, and, why did Hawaii not calculate child support based on Illinois guidelines in the original judgement? Husband lived in Illinois then, too.

Just a question out of curiosity, and now I will be quiet until I send you the things you asked for via e-mail.

P.S. How about we name a star for you, or adopt a whale in your name? ;)

[socrateaser]

>Oh, and, why did Hawaii not calculate child support based on
>Illinois guidelines in the original judgement? Husband lived
>in Illinois then, too.

Because, the mother and child lived in HI, and the child was conceived by the father in HI, so HI has jurisdiction over all the parties so as to impose its laws on the case.

But now, none of the parties lives in HI, and since the father doesn't live in Oregon, and the child and mother are not in Oregon as the result of any action of the father, it would be unfair to impose Oregon law on him for the purpose of paying support. So, IL law will be used, because that's where he lives, unles the father agrees to allow the court to use Oregon law, which I would do, because IL is far more costly.

As for custody, the mother and child are in Oregon, so it would be unfair to impose IL custody law on the child, because the child has never lived in IL, so Oregon law will prevail.

 

[Lyrael924]

Ah, now I understand. You are an extremely patient man, Soc, you know that?

I covered up this post with my earlier ramblings:

I will get my husband's answers to all of those this weekend after some careful discussion and much thinking.

Although I am not sure how to prove that having his dad in his life would definitely positively affect him. I believe that it is important for children to know their dads, but how do you argue that in front of a judge? We decided to do this now because he will be able to leave his mom for visits without the trauma that a 3-year-old would go through. He also does not have to deal with flying alone, as he would have from Hawaii.

He can travel with his dad back and forth. If we were to see him again, regularly, he (meaning son) would not be experiencing the trauma of growing up without a dad, and feeling abandoned. He would have an opportunity to get to know his extended family, and his siblings. (Am I treading into what we have to offer him here?)

I guess I am just confused as to how to argue why kids need their dads. Especially after four years of not seeing him. And very little input from her except what he wants for Xmas and his birthday. Is him moving to the continental US not enough of a change in circumstances?

I also wondered...with custody being a separate matter from visitation, are you anticipating that son's mom will initiate a child support review, or that the judge will decide to? Son's mom said she won't show up in court for any hearings there might be, although that doesn't guarantee she won't.

[socrateaser]

>I guess I am just confused as to how to argue why kids need
>their dads. Especially after four years of not seeing him. And
>very little input from her except what he wants for Xmas and
>his birthday. Is him moving to the continental US not enough
>of a change in circumstances?

I want you to think about it yourself and come up with reasons that you can swear to. I can give you reasons, but they would be mine, not yours.

>I also wondered...with custody being a separate matter from
>visitation, are you anticipating that son's mom will initiate
>a child support review, or that the judge will decide to?

It's a veritable certainty.

>Son's mom said she won't show up in court for any hearings
>there might be, although that doesn't guarantee she won't.

Pray that she doesn't show, because she will get her ass handed to her by the court.