Can I get child support with joint custody

[Scassno]

I have been divorced for about 7 years. When I was divorced, my income was roughly the same as my ex-husband's. He fought to have joint physical custody of our two children, and on paper, it's a 50/50 split, though in reality it's 60+% of the time with me, 40% or less time with him.

I agreed to waive alimony at the time. There was no mention of child support during the court proceedings, so there is no existing child support "order".

My ex-husband remarried about 5 years ago and he owns a house. I am still single and live in a condo.

I was recently laid off and my income dropped by more than 40%. I am having trouble covering basic expenses such as clothes, contact lenses, and school fees for the kids. Usually their father will split specific expenses with me, but recently he has been saying that "money is tight" for him. It would be easier for me to get a set amount of money, rather than having to ask him to chip in every time I have an expense related to our kids. What's happening is that I only ask him about certain things and I try to cover a lot of other things on my own.

I didn't think I was eligible for child support because we have joint custody, but since I have the kids more than 50% of the time and my household income is much lower than their father's, is there any chance I could be eligible?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Duranie]

It is possible you can ask for child support. An income will likely be imputed for you. If it is determined you are underemployed then your income requirement to calculate CS may not change.

Just a warning, this could trigger a nasty fight from your ex.

If you need the support though then by all means ask for it.

Since there is an existing order that doesn't have it, you might have to file something in the courts. I am not sure this is something CSE will do without court papers awarding you CS.

You can call an attorney, or go down to the court self help/ law library. Also it might be a good idea to see if you can google your stats child support guidelines.