Does the step-mom's income count for child support in MN?

[lucky]

Again, however, I don't fill those blanks out and I make sure that, if possible, any forms (tax, etc.) do NOT include my income.

Since dh is the one who is technically supposed to fill the form out, and he does NOT handle ANY finances except for depositing his paycheck, he isn't committing perjury (or whatever) when he signs them without my information because he doesn't know that info, and I honestly don't have to tell him either.

[em]Lucky

Lead your life so you wouldn't be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip.
- Will Rogers[em]

[almostastepmom]

This is the advice I got from a very good lawyer friend....

Don't take any chances... Get a pre-nup and do it now.... You never know what a judge my do when he is feeling moody... Even if it states it cannot be used, if you make a lot more the your hubby, it may be considered....

PLEASE take this advice and just get a pre-nup to cover your assets.

[wendl]

What my dh and I did and still do.

1) We NEVER co mingles out $$
2) We have NO joint accts.
3) DH give me the same amount of $$ ever month for household bills.

During court last year they thought we were hiding money ect asked for all DH's bank statements, all my bank statements, all my childs bank statements, copies of registrations of the vehicles (DH owns one in HIS NAME ONLY and my NEW car is in MY name only)


**These are my opinions, they are not legal advice**

[Sunshine1]

What happened?  Did you have to produce the statements?

[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.

[wendl]

Yep it was during discovery before my dh's trial HAHAHAHA I loved it, I handed my sons bank statements and said "Mrs EX Atty here is my sons bank statement as you can see the last deposit was Jan for $33 (this is May now) and it you continue to look only my ex's cs deposits or lack of them go into this acct.


**These are my opinions, they are not legal advice**

[joni]

Illinois doesn't use the custodial parent's income when they calculate the child support obligation.  So her earning capacity, or lack thereof, would have no bearance on the amount of obligation that your husband is responsible for.

For that matter, your income and your assets are NOT a factor either.

A contention here is possibly she's not using the money for the children.  That's extremely difficult to prove.  We tried that route.  The children would have to be malnourished or naked and you'd need witnesses and proof of this to get her into trouble over how she spends the money.

Most of us in this community are extremely frustrated by the amount of child support we have to pay when we see it doesn't go to the children.  My husband pays $1400 for ONE child so I feel your pain.  We live paycheck to paycheck too.

As sad as the ystem is, the custodial parent does not have to account for how they spend the money on children.

Clearly, his Ex is on a fishing expedition thinking for whatever reason, that your husband is making more money than he did at the prior order for child support.  The only exposure your husband may have is if he's not making his market potential at his job.  If that was the case, the judge could assign a market value to his wage, what it should be, and calculate child support based on that arbitrary number.

[srgraumenz]

Well like i said this all started in november and the first court thing was in december at which time she got 3 out of the 4 things she had petitioned to modify DENIED.    The only thing the judge didn't decide was the change to child support.  The judge said she wanted to wait to see my husband's 2004 tax return.  So in April he went back with his lawyer and proved that their was NOT a substantial change in his income and hasn't been for 3 yrs, of course her lawyer tried to say that my husband was hiding deductions and giving me deductions which is craziness as that is a federal offense and the whole reason for us filing separate was to keep MY income and MY deductions out of it....
he is making the very high end of his position...most people in his occupation actually make about $15,000 less than he does.  The past 3 yrs he has gotten very small raises about $700 a yr......Illinois law states there has to be a substantial change in circumstances in order to modify an existing order especially one less than 2 yrs old....well the judge is basically ignoring all of that.....in april she basically told both attorney's(yes she(the x) has an attorney and makes $600 a month) that she wanted to see asset and expense sheets for both parties.   We have gotten her sheet from our attorney and the sheet breaks out the kids expenses and my husband is covering 100% of the kids expenses every month plus there is $366 left over to pay for utilities and rent.
The X is the one who filed for divorce and her first attorney is the one who drew up the original support amt with her input.  
Also she is NOT abiding by the joint parenting agreement at all and basically treats the whole situation as that she has sole custody.  She is suppose to notify my husband about changes to daycare, school activities, medical decisions, etc......That is not happening and it is getting worse.  In fact she leaves messages saying she doesn't have to tell him.( just happened last night).     She tries to destroy any relationship my husband has with his kids.  She bad mouths him in front of the kids and has from the first day I ever saw her in action(last may). Also makes comments like 'oh your dad must have changed your health care because your prescriptions have never been this high'.  Which is a outright lie.....that is just one example....there is a new one every single week. There has to be something my husband can do....he has the kids approx 95 to 100 days a yr.   It states in the joint parenting agreement that he can have them more BUT it is ALWAYS a huge ordeal to request any extra time other than the 30 days during the summer which we requested 2 months in advance and didn't receive confirmation back for 6 weeks.
I appreciate all your feedback and would like to know how you emotionally detached from the situation.....you are right it does drive a person crazy....I pray alot and that has gotten me this far and will continue to get me through it.
Also are there any support groups for people like me who have married into this situation and I come from a very traditional family where my parents have been married over 40 yrs and my brother and sisters have all been married 15 to 20 yrs....this is all new to me and at times i feel lost and really don't know where i fit in....

[awakenlynn]

While in IL, the state isn's supposed to look at the NCP spouse's income so we write N/A, but they do ask for income tax returns and HIS W-2's.

BUT if my income is substancial enough to create a major difference in standards of living, THEN the state can look at the NCP's spouses income and can make adjustments for it.

For example if I were (don't I wish) to win the lottery or make $750,000 out of the blue, then the state could look at my income.  If my normal income doesn't make waves then they really don't look at it, but it depends on the judge.  When we were first married and didn't know better we put down my income and the judge DID consider it.  I quickly did my research and learned my mistakes.

[joni]

thanks for that input....I do plan on winning the lottery....hopefully sooner than later....so I'll know how to treat it for CS purposes!

;-)