Quick CS calculator help

[LorenaAZ]

I live in AZ and the CS calculator doesn`t work in my computer for some reason. Would someone be kind enough to figure this out for me please? I just used a different calculator and it said I should be getting $1300 for CS, and if that`s the case, I`m getting way less than what I should be getting.

Ex makes $3600, I make $0, (if financial aid from college counts, I make $1100 but that is only during fall and spring, I get nothing in the summer)
daycare costs $745
He spends 24 days with her a year (I multiplied the hours per week he spends with her by 4, and then by 12).
Daughter was born on Jan 28th, 2009
Everything else is zero

http://www.azcourts.gov/familylaw/ch...alculator.aspx

TIA

[frugalmama]

not working for me either - sorry!

[PoppyMama]

Not working on mine either and I tried both Safari and Firefox. One thing you might want to take into account is whether or not they are imputing income for you. In my state I don't think they take the custodial parents income into account (the judge may but the calculator doesn't) but I know in some states they do and they will assign an "appropriate" income level for a parent who is un or under employed. Does your x provide medical insurance or cover any portion of daycare? Honestly, I've never found those calculators to be totally accurate.

[PoppyMama]

I just want to say that I would be shocked if they assigned 50% of your x's gross income for one child. Shocked! In TX it's something like 20% for one and 25% for two. You should get more for daycare unless your state includes it in CS but $1300 on a $3600 income...cold day in hell.

[LorenaAZ]

PoppyMama, his base salary is $3600 but he makes almost twice that much with overtime (he works IT and has a crackberry and literally works all day and most of the night, plus weekends), but I was told you can`t factor in over time.
They did assign me a made up income value, and I never trully understood why since I was (still am) unemployed. I`ve read on this forum that CS can be assigned up to 50% of income from the NCP. Is that inaccurate?

She is not in his health insurance. He didn`t want to pay for it. My DD and I get free state insurance.

Anyway, thank you for trying Mamas!!

[PoppyMama]

Depends on the area but I don't think I've ever seen anyone have to pay 50% of their income for one child. Usually that's the max if a person is paying on mult children, especially different mothers. It sucks that they're imputing income to you if they won't consider his overtime or at least an average of his actual wages. It's one of the sucky parts of being the CP parent that we can pay 75% of our income toward just childcare, and have no way out of it, but the state won't take more than 50% of the NCP income for anything. I think that, and the fact that so many NCP don't pay anything, that pits CP against NCP and their partners. They see a chunk of income going away and it seems huge but we sometimes see close to all of our income going toward our children and still have to come up with a way to compensate for everything else they need.

[PoppyMama]

I was curious so I looked a little more at CS calculation in AZ and it's definitely one of those "complicated states". Have you seen this?http://www.superiorcourt.maricopa.go...pdf/drs10h.pdf

Is there any place you can go that would give you an estimate of what your x should be paying according to the guidelines? It looks like if you can make a good argument that the amount would change by 15% you can get a reevaluation.

[LorenaAZ]

I am going to try to get a free attorney consultation, or if no one will do that, I`ll look into how much they would charge me to revise the CS amount already on the decree. I did my divorce myself, but attended a divorce clinic and that`s where we were told how to fill out the CS worksheets. Thanks for all the info PoppyMama!

[maeby]

weird - it wouldn't work for me either and i know i've used that calculator before a couple of times even. anyway... you can try this one but it asks for amount of overnights and not days so its hard if your ex is a couple hours on the weekend kind of parent like mine is, what should we be putting?

http://www.alllaw.com/calculators/Childsupport/Arizona/

http://azlegaldocs.com/cs/index.php

these are giving similar amounts as what i got when i used the supreme court calculator a few months ago so i think they are close to accurate.

[StephandOwen]

Originally Posted by PoppyMama

in some states they do and they will assign an "appropriate" income level for a parent who is un or under employed.

Yup, that's what they do for me. I've been "underemployed" for as long as ds has been getting cs. They always assign an income level for me (40 hours at a minimum wage job, since I *could* be making that much). It doesn't matter to them that I'm in school ft and working pt- they still use their number because it's what I could be making.

[shelbean91]

Used to do payroll in AZ for ADP and frequently set up CS. In AZ, they can take up to 50% of the pay after taxes, not counting overtime, generally. Using that, $1300 sounds about right.

[LorenaAZ]

Thank you Mamas! I will look into this when I return to Flagstaff then, as it would be a huge help for my DD and I!

[Minxie]

The calculator worked for me. Using $0 as your income, it calculated $1398; using $1100 as your income, it calculated $1142.

Incidentally, $1300 is only about one-third of $3600, not half. Half would be $1800.

[LorenaAZ]

Thanks so much Minxie!! CS right now has been court ordered since June and ex is still trying to "negotiate" on a lower amount every.single.time. CS is due!! I told him I`m done cutting him breaks...in the past he has come to me saying he has to change the car tires, or fill in the blank expense and then tells me he gives all his money to ME (he never mentions it goes towards DD`s daycare, food, clothes, etc), and I`m a sucker so I have cut him breaks. But I`m done. And now I find out I`m getting even less than I`m supposed to! In the mean time, he`s going on adventure races (expensive to enter, spend the weekend in some other place, etc $$$), goes to super expsive corssfit, trips to Telluride with his bachelor buddies, going kayaking and rock climbing in CO. I have sole custody now, so I`m not as fearful as I was before to not bending over backwards and kissing a&& to ex. Gotta get my Mama claws out!!

[Minxie]

Since you already have a support order in place, check with your local Child Support Enforcement office. For $25, they will enforce the support order. This is especially helpful across state lines but helpful to you in any case as you don't need a lawyer for this. The downside is that it could take a while.

[LorenaAZ]

Thanks Minxie, I hadn`t thought of that. I went to the CS Enforcement office before I was divroced, and I remember it was going to take so long that my divorce was going to be finalized before the CS Enforcement did anything, so I didn`t use their services. I will definitely pay them a visit when I`m back in town now that time is not an issue. Thanks!