child support question

[meemee]

we are just separated and havent gone to court on this issue. so i dont know what legal rights i have. so i thought i might ask you guys.

say i make more than my ex. our dd stays with me and spends maybe 25% of her time with daddy. she usually as needed spends two or more overnight with him in a month and 2 - 3 hours everyday with him - though some days she doesnt see him at all. he pays a tiny bit CS but goes half on daycare.

so here is my question. so if i make more than him would i have to pay him child support? i live in CA. right now i make $100 more than he does and he keeps threatening i should be paying him and not the other way around. i am hoping i will soon get a job that pays more.

[Katt2005]

No, you have custody, you get support.

[lilsishomemade]

No, you have primary custody of the child, so you get the support. On another thread (by Katt :) ), someone listed a link to a calculator that might help you figure out what your child is entitled to in your state. Here is the link: Child Support Calclator (http://www.alllaw.com/calculators/Childsupport/)

[meemee]

lilsis thanks i do have the calculator. but my case is a little complicated because my ex makes cash over and under the table and the only way i know how much he makes is because he told me. so honestly the calculator is not going to do me any good.

eventually i will file for divorce - not right now as things are really bad between us. he though is struggling financially too.

i just needed to know if i have primary care can he completely stop and i got the answer i needed. i know if we share 50/50 then no one needs to pay no matter who is making what right?!!

[lilsishomemade]

meemee, I'm glad you got your answer. I think it's a gray area. I don't know how child support goes when each parent has the child exactly half the week and the other parent for the other half. I know that if the child is living with you, then you are the custodial parent. How much each of you makes has nothing to do with who should pay, though. Even if you are making more, he is still her father and is responsible for supporting her. Part of being a parent.

[pranamama]

Meemee, where I live they impute your income to full time. I think it is ridiculous but to get his income go by his last stated hourly rate or minimum wage and multiply it by 40 hours a week. All my child support papers have me making twice as much as I actually make. I look really rich, that's why I am getting just about 100 a month in child support.

[Katt2005]

Holy crap Pranamama! That is horrible!! :(

[2girlsfromparaguay]

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[pranamama]

Katt, I thought so too, of course working full time would be worse for me so I won't complain too much but someday I want to change the statutes :)

[Raynbow]

lilsis thanks i do have the calculator. but my case is a little complicated because my ex makes cash over and under the table and the only way i know how much he makes is because he told me. so honestly the calculator is not going to do me any good.

eventually i will file for divorce - not right now as things are really bad between us. he though is struggling financially too.

i just needed to know if i have primary care can he completely stop and i got the answer i needed. i know if we share 50/50 then no one needs to pay no matter who is making what right?!!

First, you can tell the child support mod about his "under the table" income and they MAY take that into consideration.

Second, if you have 50/50 custody, then YOU (the higher wage earner) will most likely have to pay support to him. 50/50 custody does NOT mean no child support - it means the higher wage earner pays the lower wage earner. Now $100/mo isn't that much of a wage difference, but if he chose to push the issue, he might get $50/mo in child support - if you had 50/50 custody. Be very careful with that, however, because he could chose to make less over the table and more under and then you'd be obligated to pay more. Be very, very careful.

[3 Little Monkeys]

From what I've heard, CA will really fight for you, they don't mess around with child support. I live in CA, but my support order is in AZ where we used to live, his income was more than mine so I didn't have that issue - I'd go for full custody though with visitation rights for him - then again my ex is a total horses patootie and after 11 yrs still doesn't acknowledge dd as his child so I may not be the best one to give advice here.

As I said, my cs order is in AZ so I don't know how things get set up in CA, but when I did mine, it went through the child support division of DES and I had an advocate who went to court with me. I didn't have to pay any legal fees or anything since there was no lawyer - I'm sure CA has something similar, someone who you can talk to and who can advise you of the best route to take. I'd definitely mention the "under the table" work that he does though

[meemee]

thanks chris and sherri, that is the info i was looking for.

like i said before i am not going to persue this now legally as it could really make our situation 10 times worse (him wanting dd more to avoid CS instead of just wanting to spend more time with her). he is a good father - rather a good playmate as long as it doesnt disrupt his life too much. i am just going to let it be how it is going on now even if it means we struggle a lot. i believe in karma. and that one day you will get back what you reap.

[meemee]

Meemee, where I live they impute your income to full time. I think it is ridiculous but to get his income go by his last stated hourly rate or minimum wage and multiply it by 40 hours a week. All my child support papers have me making twice as much as I actually make. I look really rich, that's why I am getting just about 100 a month in child support.

pranamama - this is utterly ridiculous. it just doesnt make sense. what makes sense is getting what u make and dividing it up by 40 hours to get a true per hour rate you make. how can they inflate your earnings when u dont get it. it just doesnt make sense. how can they say u make so much when u dont!! i just dont get it.

[pranamama]

Does anyone else here live in a state that imputes income? I think it really dings whoever has primary childcare responsibilities.
meemee - hope you do ok without the $$ part. I do think things can get adversarial quick in courtrooms.

[Jster]

Well, the courts refused to impute ex's income to full time...he worked part time as a student (but other students worked full time, and he also took summers off). So I think it's a matter of discretion on the part of the judge. If they had imputed ex's income to full time and summers, I'd be getting double ($800 instead of $400). It really, really pissed me off that the judge was on his side on that (at least she should have required summer full time employment, imo). But the worst was that she gave him both tax exemptions...because I was taking time off to care for our newborn, and therefore "not making any money anyway." Grrrr....

Yeah, and I also think they should credit the parent providing childcare just as they would if the child was in private child care. It's for the child's benefit! But it'd never happen. To much of a male hegemony :(

Meemee, I'd suggest you get a private written doc between the two of you, even if you don't go to court yet, about the visitation. Then later you can bring it up if he tries to go for more visitation just to avoid childsupport. Say, well, you thought this schedule was in our child's best interest when you were thinking just of her interests. It isn't right to change that now that your economic interests come into play. Just a thought.

[fire_lady]

IMO and if I'm not mistaken, you don't have to pay him child support besides you have the custody for the child. He have to give child support even though your earning more than him. It is his responsibility to do so.