|
Jul 05
2009
|
Ask a Lawyer: My fiance has a previous court orderPosted by: Dads Divorce on Jul 5, 2009 Tagged in: wages , remarriage , PA , Maintenance , income , disability , child support modification , Child Support , child , Ask A Lawyer
  |
|
Question:
My fiance has a previous court order and when his ex feels like she needs more money, she petitions the courts. Here is the situtation: my fiance and I have a daughter who is autistic. He has a 16-year-old child from a previous marriage. Now, she lives with her boyfriend who she went with before the marriage broke up (my fiances best friend ). My fiance and I have been together 9 yrs and our autistic daughter is 7. It seems like when his ex's life seems uncomfortable she petitions the court for child support. My question is now that we have a child who is autistic, can he put a stop to her lying madness? She has lied to the courts and now his son is 16. There are expenses on his order he shouldn't be paying, like child care. He was told to go and file a petition but wasn't guaranteed his order wouldn't go up. Here is the hook: she only works 2 days a week. Her child is 16. He works and makes more than his dad every week. She sits home 5 days a week and collects on this kid. Here at home, we have 2 kids 7 and 8. He only makes $10.00 a hour. The last time in court, when it was called to the judge's attention that she only works 2 days a week, the judge was addressing this until her laywer (who was a public defender) changed the subject so it was dismissed. What can the defendant do and what are his rights if he has a child from a recent relationship that is disabled. Help! she's taken him for a ride and the judge is believing her. We know for a fact she works under the table and isn't telling the courts. She also says that she is going to college but it's only one night per week! Every chance she gets, she petitions the court to bring him back, even when he is not late with a payment. She calls and complains and then they contact him and he has to go whether he is late or not, and misses a day of work which sets us back and they seem not to care about whether or not he has a major obligations. Help please. It's getting too deep and my family is suffering. If asked to move, we have no where to go. At this rate, the judge seems to be giving the mother her way. It's not just her child first they should be looking out for, but the welfare of all the kids in question and they are not.
Answer:
I am not licensed in the State of Penn and therefore I cannot answer your question specifically to the laws of that State. I will attempt to give what response I am able to provide. If the judge was inclined to be concerned that she is only working two days a week, his attention needs to remain focused on that issue. You want to impute her income. Often courts will impute the underemployed person their present wage at 40 hours per week in a situation as you describe. You also appear to want the court to deviate from the support guidelines due to your child's illness. In my jurisdiction, that is unlikely as we have a first family preference. The reasoning is that your fiance knew he had a support obligation toward two children and should have considered that fact before having additional children. However, if the ex-wife would attempt to raise his child support he could use the cost of your children to help prevent an increase. If you believe that the mother is working for cash, look at locations where it is advantageous for her to claim her income is higher. This would be situations such as applications for credit cards, car loans, home loans or rent applications. Subpoena these locations. You can also look at her bank records and attempt to show the amount she deposits exceeds her claimed "on the books" income.
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed
