Child support

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SouthernMarine

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First off, I would like to thank everyone ahead of time for your help and responses.

Last year my ex and I finally went to court to establish paternity, child support, visitation etc. Our daughter is almost two years old and I am the petitioner in the case. I started paying child support on August 1st and have not been late or missed any payments, and we have agreed to share joint physical and legal custody of our daughter (our order states the same). But over the past 4-5 months she has been spending less and less time with our daughter, in fact she has been only have getting her an average of 8 days a month while I keep her the rest of the time (through her own choice) . She has also been spending the child support on many things other than our daughter ranging from cigarettes to an anniversary gift for her parents and many other things (I have her on recordings stating this, in full compliance with AL laws).

I was thinking of requesting a change of the child support order and bridging the documentation I have with me that shows how much I have been keeping her and how she is spending my daughter's money. It wouldn't bother me that much if she was spending it on bills but she lives rent-free with her parents and does not own a vehicle, also it just ticks me off that she is rarely spends time with our daughter but I had to fight tooth and nail for my parental rights (she tried keeping me from my daughter and not allowing me to see her after she was born which prompted me to get a lawyer and begin everything).

But my main concern is that if I do request a cancellation what are the odds the judge orders me to pay more? Or that she files a change later down the road to get it back even though I am keeping greater than or equal to 50% of the time?
 
SouthernMarine said:
First off, I would like to thank everyone ahead of time for your help and responses.

Last year my ex and I finally went to court to establish paternity, child support, visitation etc. Our daughter is almost two years old and I am the petitioner in the case. I started paying child support on August 1st and have not been late or missed any payments, and we have agreed to share joint physical and legal custody of our daughter (our order states the same). But over the past 4-5 months she has been spending less and less time with our daughter, in fact she has been only have getting her an average of 8 days a month while I keep her the rest of the time (through her own choice) . She has also been spending the child support on many things other than our daughter ranging from cigarettes to an anniversary gift for her parents and many other things (I have her on recordings stating this, in full compliance with AL laws).

I was thinking of requesting a change of the child support order and bridging the documentation I have with me that shows how much I have been keeping her and how she is spending my daughter's money. It wouldn't bother me that much if she was spending it on bills but she lives rent-free with her parents and does not own a vehicle, also it just ticks me off that she is rarely spends time with our daughter but I had to fight tooth and nail for my parental rights (she tried keeping me from my daughter and not allowing me to see her after she was born which prompted me to get a lawyer and begin everything).

But my main concern is that if I do request a cancellation what are the odds the judge orders me to pay more? Or that she files a change later down the road to get it back even though I am keeping greater than or equal to 50% of the time?
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The State doesn't care what Mom spends the CS money on. It's to reimburse Mom for the expenses of said child.

CS in Alabama is figured via shared income model. They take Mom's income (imputed or actual) and your income and do a percentage of both. The judge changing the amount of the order is unlikely to happen. And with an order only 6mths old, unlikely that it will be changed at all.

With a custody/visitation order as new as yours is, it's unlikely the judge is going to be willing to change anything about it, either.
 
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boyzgrrl said:
The State doesn't care what Mom spends the CS money on. It's to reimburse Mom for the expenses of said child.

CS in Alabama is figured via shared income model. They take Mom's income (imputed or actual) and your income and do a percentage of both. The judge changing the amount of the order is unlikely to happen. And with an order only 6mths old, unlikely that it will be changed at all.

With a custody/visitation order as new as yours is, it's unlikely the judge is going to be willing to change anything about it, either.
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Thank you for your quick response :)

But if she only has our daughter a few days a month what "expenses" could she possibly need reimbursed? I know that's a fairly vague question and possibly could only result in speculation.

Also I thought I should add in this extra information as well. We share "pure joint legal and physical custody" (that's what the order says) and there is no "custodial parent" defined in the paperwork.
I'm not necessarily looking to change the custody or visitation as I do believe both parents should be in the child's life, I just don't see why I am being forced to pay her child support when she never has our child. :/

No offense boyzgrrl, but I am interested in what some others may have to say on this as well, however, I get the feeling they will probably have the same stance.
 
I'm not saying a thing until I hopefully get an answer to this... :)

Your screen-name suggests military. Are you currently active duty?
 
No I'm not, I'm a disabled veteran, I'm living off of my compensation at the moment. I should also add that since I started paying I have gotten married and now have a step-child and my wife is pregnant.
 
I disagree that it's too soon - since the original order was made, you've had the child most of the time which would generally indicate a change of circumstance. Since Alabama doesn't have a limit to when you can or can't file for a mod, you may want to hang on another month or two, then file to have the order changed based on the new status quo. With that said, the longer status quo continues, the better chance you'll have of getting that modification.

Don't do anything with child support until/unless the court actually modifies the custody order.
 
Thanks for your reply Proserpina. I was thinking of waiting about another month, but until the order is changed (as much as I hate to) I will continue to pay her the child support.
 
SouthernMarine said:
Thanks for your reply Proserpina. I was thinking of waiting about another month, but until the order is changed (as much as I hate to) I will continue to pay her the child support.
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The baby you are expecting in a month will be considered a change in your circumstances.

Here's hoping it'll be a happy, healthy, bouncy baby.

Unless, and until you adopt the stepchild, that won't matter to the court.

Good luck, and thank you for your service to our nation.
 
AJ, for the purposes of custody, the new baby is not a CoC.

For the purposes of child support in Alabama, it might - just might - get him a small credit.
 
Proserpina said:
AJ, for the purposes of custody, the new baby is not a CoC.

For the purposes of child support in Alabama, it might - just might - get him a small credit.
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I don't think it will; I've had a CS case in Alabama. Unfortunately, I cannot post links yet to support my position.
 
Just wanted to say thank you one more time to all of the advice and input I have received here. This topic may not be considered closed. Thanks guys!
 
Proserpina said:
AJ, for the purposes of custody, the new baby is not a CoC.

For the purposes of child support in Alabama, it might - just might - get him a small credit.
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Yes, the comment about the new baby, issue of his current marriage was directed at getting the appropriate reduction in his child support.

He has limited mustard to slather on a couple sandwiches, so it will save him $20 or $30 (maybe a month).

Every dollar helps....
 
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