Confused

[prenticect]

First off, yes I will be talking to a lawyer to gain some insight.  But right now I am just getting stressed trying to gain some clue about what will happen... to the best I can at this point in time.

The mom and me, we are technically common law marriage in TX.  We have 2 boys.  I am trying to figure out child support payments assuming I get a decent % of phsycial custody 40 to 50%.  (I really want 100% but current travel job prevents that right now)  So far I have found no real answer on how much child support changes based on this information.

Now, right now she is and been been living with me, she has no job.  The youngest boy is 1 1/2 right now.  Probably by the time this all gets to court he will be 2.  She refuses daycare.  The oldest boy is in a pre-kindengarden type of school right now.

She really wants to move back to MA.  I can not due to house and financial issues.  If I "force" her to stay I can only imagine she will want to then do the divorce thing and try to get alomony.  Basically.. to not work, or do very little to have spending money.  Unsure how or if she can even get almony given we have so much debt.

So the first concept I am trying to grapple with is the CS issue and how much, if anything it will be reduced because they stay with me 50% of the time.  (I have no issues taking care of the boys in any manner). 

The other parts... I will still research when I can.

Any insight at all???  Thanks

[superdad01]

Get a lawyer.... (you cannot afford to not have one)

You should be able to find an online caculator so you have a rough idea. If she is unemployed impute her income at minimum wage... Unless she held a decent paying job in the recent past. Then you can argue that she is capable of making this much etc.

YOu can always negotiate so you don't get screwed so badly. At the end of the day the judge will wonder why you coulden't come to an agreement in the first place.

[srh]

I am in Texas, working for an attorney, and my soon to be husband is going through all this same stuff.

First off...a lot of everything depends on the judge. Texas Family Code has child support "guidelines" that have nothing to do with how much parenting time each parent has with their children. It's who has primary conservatorship (what used to be custody). With your 2 boys, they would base it on 25% of your income. The family code also has conditions in it that the judges should be looking at when determining child support, but that doesn't mean the judges actually do it. Most will just go off of the guidelines because it's what everyone has been doing for such a long time and the judges don't want to stray and look bad. Plus, most attorneys will follow the guidelines and come to agreements because they know that arguing for higher or lower support before the judges won't work because they go by the guidelines too. Texas generally isn't an alimony state, but there are some cases where it has been ordered, and it just depends on the judge and if your wife's attorney is gonna ask for it. I am not that familiar with it though because my office has NEVER handled a case with alimony.

Now, my fiance is still going through all this with his ex. He just got ordered to pay twice as much support as what he should be based on the guidelines. The judge based this off of his income from last year, when he was working 2 jobs (his part time job he worked more hours at last year than I did at my full time one). He quit his second job this year because he was always working when the kids were suposed to be with us. He is still making good money at his current full time job, one that he has been at for the past 6 years. The judge said that he only quit his second job so he didn't have to support his kids and would not listen to the testimony and evidence of his work schedule being on his days with the kids. The child support that has been ordered is on top of him being required to keep the kids on his insurance at work (which the cost has recently doubled). His take home pay will be less than half of what the ex will get from his checks, and he is not bringing home enough money to pay the the rent, much less any of the other bills.

Most judges aren't as bad as the one we got with this, though. I do agree with knightryda01: most judges will wonder why you couldn't come to an agreement.