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CS and unemployed question

the2ndmother's picture

Submitted by the2ndmother on Fri, 05/21/2010 - 11:13am

Hi, I have been a member for a while but have never gotten the nerve to post. So here goes my first one. I have a question, does anyone know how CS works when the BM has unemployeed herself. She is not working at the moment because she just finished getting teaching degree and expects to get a job right away, but the custody agreement has been changed. We now have 50/50 instead of her having primary and am wondering if the CS will be dropped if we try and change it or if it will go up because she is not working.

Comments

overmyhead's picture

Submitted by overmyhead on Fri, 05/21/2010 - 11:34am

Here in Ontario, it does not matter what BM earns. Not when it comes to CS. Only SS and Extraordinary Expenses. CS is based on income of Dad only, regardless of BM's income or lack thereof......Congrats on your first post.....enjoy ST.....

the2ndmother's picture

Submitted by the2ndmother on Fri, 05/21/2010 - 11:39am

Thanks, ya that is what I thought but BM told us we may want to wait cause she wasn't sure how her being unemployeed would affect it.

Mrsronny's picture

Submitted by Mrsronny on Fri, 05/21/2010 - 12:29pm

Here you have to go to court to change it because they do want the cs person either giving or receiving to try to lower income so they will not have to pay as much or receive more.

livlaughlov's picture

Submitted by livlaughlov on Fri, 05/21/2010 - 12:46pm

In Canada if custody is split 40-60 or more (like you guys 50-50) then you look at her income and the fathers income, and go to the table amounts for those incomes. The difference is then paid (if it is positive) to the custodial parent.

For example, if fathers payable amount is 600, and mothers would be 500 (with new job), then father pays mother $100.
If fathers payable was 400, and mothers (CP) was 500, then no money is exchanged.

You will need to re-do this with a court order. The reasoning is that at 40% access or above the NCP has as many expenses as the CP. (Actually, studies show that well below 40%, NCP's still have almost all the same fixed expenses as the CP's, but courts don't consider them untill access is 40% or more).

the2ndmother's picture

Submitted by the2ndmother on Fri, 05/21/2010 - 1:04pm

ya that is the way it is here but I don't know how that works when the BM is not working especially if it is her own choice to not be working.

livlaughlov's picture

Submitted by livlaughlov on Fri, 05/21/2010 - 12:48pm

Whoops - if fathers payable was 600 and mothers 500, then father pays mother $50.

And if mothers payable is 500 and fathers 400, then mother pays father $50.

herewegoagain's picture

Submitted by herewegoagain on Fri, 05/21/2010 - 1:05pm

It dependa on where you liverpool. Although in TX it's irrelevant how much BM earns, i know someone that got ca droppec because it was 50/50 and therefore there is not a custodial parent.

Elizabeth's picture

Submitted by Elizabeth on Fri, 05/21/2010 - 1:41pm

This is tricky, and I recommend consulting a lawyer. Our BM is voluntarily unemployed, so we were able to "impute" an income to her. It wasn't much (they typically impute minimum wage), but it was accepted because she voluntarily does not work and, when DH and BM divorced, she was making as much as him. So she has the potential to make equal wages. How long do you think it will be before your BM is employed? It might make sense to wait until that happens, if it's only a couple of weeks or a month. Or you could file now and hope that by the time all the paperwork gets completed she has secured a job.

the2ndmother's picture

Submitted by the2ndmother on Fri, 05/21/2010 - 2:27pm

I don't know how long it will be till she gets employed. It depends on if she figures out that she might not get a teaching job right away. She was working untill student teaching when she quit her job. Now I have no idea when she will be getting one. She has been unemployed for about 5 months now so I have no clue.