Child Support Woes

[Kitty C.]

Are you in or near Sioux City?  I'm in Region 10, Iowa City area.  Let me know if I can be of help, as well.  

DH has his support thru CSRU but we haven't had any problems with them and luckily BM hasn't exercised her right to ask for a review every 2 years.  She went thru another divorce last year and 'suddenly' has been very amicable and agreeable.  Last year at one of SS's football games, she mentioned something about it to DH, but said that they were 'getting along so good, I don't want to mess it up'.  I almost had a heart attack on that one, LOL!  Apparently SS overheard the conversation and he told BM that if she 'ever' tried to get more support from DH, he would disown her and leave to live with us!  Out of the mouths of babes!

[JVondrak76]

Yep, I'm in Sioux City.  My husband and his X don't get along AT ALL.  Lots of animosity.  It's very stressful.  She's very vindictive - it's just really a waste of energy for everyone.  I hope to get this CSRU issue resolved soon so I can not worry about it for another two years!  

I think once my stepkids are older, at least one of them will ask to live with us.  It's a sad situation.

[IceMountain]

You can only get the health insurance deduction if the child is covered under the policy.

It wasn't hard to get the judge to impute her earning capacity because the ex testified that she was able to work and had looked for work only very minimally.  In addition she had just finished a temp job a couple months before trial, so that helped to prove she was able to work.  

Does the child she stays home with have any type of disability that requires extra care and that she might try to use as an excuse for not working?  Any other forseable excuses for not working?  If so, do the legwork to rebut what she might try to pull in court.

[JVondrak76]

I am nervous about what the ex will tell the judge when asked if she is "able" to work.  She has no impairments or disabilities to prevent her from working - she's very much employable.  She always falls back on her religion, stating that she believes children are better off at home, instead of in daycare, she wants to homeschool, etc. etc.  I know she will come up with something.  

The only child at home will be five in November - and as far as I know, he has no special needs.  He appears to be perfectly normal.  

The ex lives on an acreage, and grows a vegetable garden, and raises chickens, so she periodically sells eggs and vegetables and other homemade goods on Saturday mornings at a local farmers market in town.  She hasn't been doing that though since she started this review action.  That should also prove she is able to work, hopefully.  I just don't trust her - she is very underhanded.  I am really nervous about this.  

What paperwork did you take with you to give to the judge regarding imputing the X's income?

[Skippy89]

Imputing Income
The act of awarding potential income to individuals not employed or voluntarily underemployed; the CSEA or court may project utilizing the child support guidelines, an income base for purposes of establishing a support obligation.

Your spouse could make the same claim that he also feels he should be in the home raising his children.  She has a financial responsiblity to her children just as much as he does.  If she were to get divorced or her husband died and she had no income, she would probably be getting a job doing what she knows how to do to support the children.

I would find any State Statute I could find regarding potential income.

[IceMountain]

My lawyer presented a child support worksheet with her earning capacity entered.  During our trial my ex was questioned, by my attorney, about her ability to work and her work searches.  I submitted the IWD printout as part of my evidence.  That was it.  

[JVondrak76]

I found an attorney in Des Moines willing to impute the X's income on the CSRU worksheets.  He is optimistic that a judge will agree - he does this on a regular basis.  I can't understand why no Sioux City attorneys would do this for us?  

[ckholton]

Hi I am new to the forum, but have 13 years of dealing with an ex and child support.  I know that in most states if a custodial parent if not employed their income is figured at minimum wage for that area or if they work previously they go by what they were making because that is considered potiental income.  My husband had to have surgery on his shoulder and was out of work, his ex took him back to court and even though he was not working and he may not beable to go back to that same line of work they went on what he made at his previous job. It was unbelievable.  

Our problem now is that the arrears that were created due to his injury and when he was down right stupid handing her cash, there is a lien on his credit and the amount of arrears is not coming down because they add $30 to $70 a week interest.  We see no way of this getting paid off.

[Kitty C.]

Question about those Sioux City attys.:  Are they general practice attys. or do they specialize in family law?  If it's the former, then you're talking to the wrong attys.  If it's the latter, they need to be educated!  Once you have the ex's income inputed, send a copy to them as an example and tell them this is what you were talking about.  Also tell them that you will let everyone you know who is looking for a divorce atty. that they may call themselves family law attys., but they have severe gaps in knowledge about it!

[JVondrak76]

UPDATE:  We received the computation from CSRU, and they want to raise our support payments from $502.40 to $946.00 per month, and the X once again claimed zero income on her financials.  I spoke to an attorney in Des Moines who said we can have her wages imputed at the median wage for a legal secretary in our region, which is $13.36 per hour, BUT the judge is likely to then factor in child care expenses in her favor.  So, it may be a wash anyway!  This is just crazy.  She intentionally remains unemployed or underemployed to manipulate the child support system - we are basically providing this woman with welfare.  Her husband makes more money than my husband does - but that doesn't seem to matter.  I'm not sure what we're going to do now.  Any suggestions?