Splitting up Expenses for a Court Financial Statement (Child Support Related)

Updated on March 19, 2011
J.S. asks from Boston, MA
6 answers

OK continuing on the child support tangent today...my husband has to file a financial statement with the custody change paperwork because the custody change means that we shouldn't be paying child support (his daughter moved in with us in December). Why on earth the fact that she lives here isn't enough to change a support order is beyond me but I digress...

How should we divvy up expenses on his financial form? His financial form will include only his income. I make significantly more than him and from a pure numbers standpoint right now, his expenses are more than his income so I technically "support" him (his income wouldn't support a single person, never mind a family of 6). A similar situation would be if mom who works part-time had to do a financial statement - her husband's income would support her, but then does that count as her income? A 100% true statement for him would have a giant negative at the bottom - that would be a red flag, right? Would it make more sense to just allocate expenses according to a proportion of income (even though there are debts, etc. that are his) and come out with next to nothing leftover? I don't want to present inaccurate info, but I don't want him to submit anything that will raise red flags. At the end of the day, this is juts a formality as the fact that he is now the custodial parent should determine that we will no longer pay support. Thanks for any advice!

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More Answers

C.W.

answers from Las Vegas on

Child support and custody are two different things. You should request a support change, is the financial statement for that?
I would put in stuff that is directly related to him: a car, rent/mortgage, electricity, phone. A negative may not raise flags but if it is WAYYY negative (like $400 or up) it may raise some flags. It would get as close to 0 left over as possible so that they can see that he does not pay support... just the fact that she lives with you it doesn't make sense to pay CHILD support to someone who doesn't have the child.

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A.C.

answers from Boston on

Do what they say. Part of the reason they need his and only his finances, is because that figure is partly used to determine how much support the child's mother will have to pay him. The courts don't care if you are supporting him in this, they just need to have his finances to plug into an equation. Tell the truth or it could come back to kick you in the rear.

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K.C.

answers from Boston on

In Massachusetts, there is a section under "Income" for "Contributions from Other Household Members." You should be able to add a gootnote saying something to the extent of "Amount of expenses paid by current Wife." You could also footnote certain expenses on his financial form, such as heat, electricity, mortgage and write half paid by Wife or however you divide them. Make sure he points out these contributions to the Judge and clarifies they are NOT income but expenses paid by you. Good luck!

ALSO, child support is solely based on income and NOT expenses unless there are some unusually high expenses for the child to consider (ie serious ongoing medical expenses, private school, etc). Attach a copy of the child support guidelines based on your Husband's income. You should be able to find a guideline sheet online.

T.L.

answers from St. Louis on

A negative at the bottom isn't necessarily a bad thing. It shows that he needs the support from the mama to help support his daughter. The court knows that there are two incomes in the home. If you have 4 people living there take everything and split it by 4. For example your expensies are $4000 a month his share would be $1000 and his daughter $1000. It doesn't really matter that you make more money as long as the bills are paid and the child cared for.

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A.H.

answers from Canton on

Not sure if this makes a difference since I am not married but my boyfriend and I have been together for 12yrs and when I took my oldest daughter's Dad to court for child support, I filled out the sheet with my income only. He knew that I was only working part time, living with someone and knew that my Dad was living with us. So he tried to say he wanted to see my 'total household income' and the magistrate told him they were only worried about my income.

L.M.

answers from Dover on

I don't know about in MA but here in DE the only income and expenses they were concerned with were those directly pertaining to bio-parents income, taxes on that income, insurance deductions from that income, mortgage, child care expenses. All other expenses were considered irrelevant...meaning they did not matter as they didn't count other debt (considered that optional).

To be completely accurate, make a copy and fill it out with those items. Fill a second copy out with everything with a note that it includes ALL household expenses not all of which are paid by him.

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