Bombardment of child support/court procedure questions

We have a court date next week for child support. We have never done this before as my DH and BM have just gone along amicably until recently.

We own rental property. We file our tax returns jointly and the rental property rent is considered income. How does this factor in with the court's determination of CS? Will the court split the rental income 50/50 between my DH and I so only half will count? If we have to present tax returns in court, does BM have access to my salary and my other income info? Or will those remain confidential in the court? Should we be filing separate tax returns? Should we transfer the rental property into my name only? We are also considering selling the rental property. If we do sell after the court order is in place, do we have to go back to court to seek modification of the order?

Also, DH made like $20K this year in overtime. It was sheer luck. Obviously this is not guaranteed. I have heard that the court simply takes the last year's tax return and calculates the 17% off of that number, regardless of whether it's overtime or not. Is that true? If it is, and say DH does not get any OT this year, are we able to get a modification of the court order? How long do we have to wait to do that?

Thanks for reading all of this. I'm a total wreck right now.

Re: Bombardment of child support/court procedure questions

we did cs without a lawyer and i wish we would've had a lawyer...our district was different they take both salaries, add and devide by each salary to see how much % each parent owes to the care of the child...

for taxes you can file injured spouse forms so that if your husb has $$$ he owes, they can't take your portion of the taxes for that repayment

not sure about her knowing the salary though...usually they won't consider touching the spouses income b/c its between former husb and former wife - but each dist. is different

good luck!

Re: Bombardment of child support/court procedure questions

Has he been paying her child support all along? If so is she happy with the arrangement they had? Only ask because my sons dad and I always did it by ourselves until last yr, but when we went to court we already agreed on a price therefore we just told them the agreement we had and neither of us had to show any kind of income. If she is not satisfied with the amount that he was paying then I don't really know how it works.

GL

Re: Bombardment of child support/court procedure questions

My DH's BM owns a rental property with her DH and the courts put all the income in her name and counted it towards the pro-rata ( not for CS, as that was an agreed upon amount from the original order that BM tried to have modified upward and was denied) , but for extra-curriculars, childcare etc....

Not sure if the rental property is soley in her name and thats why or not

The court did ask what I make (and what her DH makes), but it was not counted into the equation ( it seems like some of it is more-so off the record type things that are more for the magistrate to get a real feel for the "whole" financial situation of both parties...No proof needed to be shown etc..

A word of caution about selling the rental property:
The BM in addition to the rental home that I referenced above also had an apt. in her house and decided to convert it to a rec room instead, so she tried to have the pro-rata adjusted....

The magistrate said "You should have thought about that before you willingly decreased your income" (or something along those lines)...Denied
So just be careful...

The one thing I have learned is that with family courts there is NO such thing as black and white and also that modifying a court order is NOT an easy thing to have done unless there are very extenuating circumstances

17% is a "guideline" ...They also factor in the agreement that is made as far as chilcare, extracurricular activities, healthcare, schooling, camp, and that could alter the 17 %....

From my experience, a modification request can be made after 24 months from original request ( not sure if thats off an original order or one that has been a previous modification request though)

I personally would not seperate returns ( tax ramifications might end up being more than what you are saving , not sure )

My advice is to cover as many bases as you can upfront and not to rely on ever having to modify ( it can be a PIA)...Good luck

Re: Bombardment of child support/court procedure questions

My ex made overtime when he was divorced. I believe it was not included in his child support because it was not guaranteed income.

Re: Bombardment of child support/court procedure questions