CS Decreased based on Visitations

[stepmomintx]

I need some help and advice


My husband and I have my step-daughter 50/50 split they have joint managing conservatorship...........Upon orginally divorce decree they both had child 50% of the month...my husband did not pay CS rather 65% of all expenses........Several years after the divorce my husband and I moved to another state... We had to modify the decree... Mom was CP with us paying CS and normal visitation every other wed and every other weekend.... Even though we lived 9 hours apart we flew my step daughter every weekend for two years...We never missed a weekend visit.......
We moved back to the same city that my step-daughter lives in after two years of this..(too much on my husband missing his daughter)...... We never modify the decree...but mom agreed to go back to 50/50 split of visitation but would not give up CS.............
We have my step-daughter 50% of the month and pay her mom 500.00 a month CS................ we really don't think this is right.... We encur just as many expenses as her mom does having 50% of time............... We saw a lawyer and the lawyer said that going back to court is not a for sure thing.....judges don't like 50/50 and may not award it to us i can't beleive this, because we can prove that we have been doing it for years and it works... my step-daughter won't have it any other way............ and then we run the risk of pissing off my husband's ex and her pulling the 50/50 agreement just because she can.....the decree is not 50/50 and legally we don't have a leg to stand on...
Should we try and get her to sign something? If we went back to court do we stand a chance at decreased CS based on the fact that we have the child just as much as the person who get CS..... my husband and his ex make the exact same amount of money.............it is not like he makes a whole lot more than her and is not wanting to pay...
What should we do?

[reellis527]

My husband and I have the same problem with his daughter.  We get his daughter every other week and when child support was ordered we only have every other weekend visitation.  Now the order states we get her every other week, holiday and three weeks out of the summer.  We petitioned the courts asking the child support be decreased because we have the same amount of physical time as the mother and the judge falt out said no.  I don't know what their problems are.

[wiserina]

If I were in your situation, I too would be upset. I would think that if you were able to prove that this is how it was before you moved and then again after you moved and that it works for all parties involved that the judge would have no problem. I have heard that judges do not favor the option, but I do know a family who shares 50-50. My sister-in-law has 50-50 custody of her daughter, Litterally. My neice lives with her father from september until march and see's her mother on most weekends. From March until Sept she lives with her mother and see her father on most weekends. I know in most cases a 50-50 split like that doesn't always work for everyone, but it does for this family. It really all depends on the judge. But even if your husband ex fights him on the legal issues of the split, that if the judge sees how she had been and continued to be alright with the split they just might grant your request. What about instead of pulling her back into court, maybe you could try to get her to solve the issue through mediation. Its kind of a nicer, calmer way rather then court. But when all is said and done, the mediation order will hold up in court the same as a court order. Here in NY, you can go through the BBB. Their service is free, but it is also completely volentary, by all parties. So if the other party is not willing, that route will not be possible. I wish your family luck with this situation. Hopefully his ex will consider what is in the best interest of their daughter, not how she will be loosing $500 a month.

[leon]

in a nicer response than what i usually give, a 50-50 split under the federal code of regulations means no one side can pay child support because it inherently runs into conflicts with the constitution under discrimination, and violation of equal protection, however the courts have learned a catchall that most people haven't caught on to and that is they will assign one side legal or primary legal custody and get away with child support in that dirrection, even though in 1000's of cases ive only found 2 that have been cited or tried on that issue alone. Under the code of federal regulations obnly the absent parent( the one who the child does not reside with primarily 50% of the time is required tp pay, and under that the guidelines that the state is contracted and obligated to follow must be time spent with each parent must be factored in.All the info is under title 45CFR code of federal regualtions, and under tittle 42 USC(United States code) all of this can be find on the internet under a general word search. Read and Learn and you will save money time and the headache of being lied to and misrepresented.

[stepmomintx]

What state are you in?  I am in Texas