Alabama child support modification query...HELP!!

Earlier in the week my wife went to court in an attempt to have her monthly
child support increased. She got divorced in 1996, and the child support
award was $189/month. It was also in the divorce decree that her ex keep
full insurance on their daughter. It couldn't be medicare or Allkids (an
Alabama low-income medicare program). It had to be legitimate full
coverage.

Assisting her before the court date was a worker from DHR here, who told
her that they wouldn't help out unless they could guarantee at least a 10%
increase. Those were her exact words. So my wife agreed to go back to
court.

Incidentally, from the time of her divorce, her ex had NEVER put his
daughter on insurance per the divorce decree.

Anyway, we get into court, and her ex shows up with a brand spanking new
insurance card, activated just a week prior to the court date. It seems
he has insured himself, his new wife, and my stepdaughter, but not his two
other children with his new wife. The divorce decree says he must inform
my wife when he takes out insurance on my stepdaughter, but does NOT give
a timeframe for doing so. So, he lets her know at the hearing that he has
the legitimate insurance. It's an HMO thru his workplace, with (he
states) dues of $300/month. Incidentally, he took out the policy on
himself and his wife in April.

BTW, his income now is far greater than his income at the time of the
divorce.

To make a long story short, the judge reduced the monthly child support
award from $189 to $101. My wife never got the chance to talk to her
lawyer, the judge, or the caseworker assigned to her. Her ex just threw
down the insurance card, they recalculated the support, and my wife had to
sign off on it. We tried to talk to the caseworker to have her explain
what had happened, but the only answer we got was "It's in the guidelines"
over and over and over.

My question is this: If the divorce decree says he HAS to have insurance
and he HAS to pay $189/month, what is the justification in almost halving
the support now that he is finally (after all these years) obeying the
original divorce decree?? Common sense would dictate that, in now having
insurance, he is finally complying with the law (insurance AND $189/month
in support).

We both came out of the hearing feeling like my wife had been violated by
her husband, the judge, and her DHR caseworker. Not just my wife but my
stepdaughter, who has the support from her father seriously decreased.

Is there no recourse at this time? Or do we just chalk it up to experience
and go on with our lives?

Buryl

In article outparenting.com,
Buryl says...

Earlier in the week my wife went to court in an attempt to have her monthly
child support increased. She got divorced in 1996, and the child support
award was $189/month. It was also in the divorce decree that her ex keep
full insurance on their daughter. It couldn't be medicare or Allkids (an
Alabama low-income medicare program). It had to be legitimate full
coverage.

Assisting her before the court date was a worker from DHR here, who told
her that they wouldn't help out unless they could guarantee at least a 10%
increase. Those were her exact words. So my wife agreed to go back to
court.

Incidentally, from the time of her divorce, her ex had NEVER put his
daughter on insurance per the divorce decree.

Anyway, we get into court, and her ex shows up with a brand spanking new
insurance card, activated just a week prior to the court date. It seems
he has insured himself, his new wife, and my stepdaughter, but not his two
other children with his new wife. The divorce decree says he must inform
my wife when he takes out insurance on my stepdaughter, but does NOT give
a timeframe for doing so. So, he lets her know at the hearing that he has
the legitimate insurance. It's an HMO thru his workplace, with (he
states) dues of $300/month. Incidentally, he took out the policy on
himself and his wife in April.

BTW, his income now is far greater than his income at the time of the
divorce.

To make a long story short, the judge reduced the monthly child support
award from $189 to $101. My wife never got the chance to talk to her
lawyer, the judge, or the caseworker assigned to her. Her ex just threw
down the insurance card, they recalculated the support, and my wife had to
sign off on it. We tried to talk to the caseworker to have her explain
what had happened, but the only answer we got was "It's in the guidelines"
over and over and over.
========
Then there is your answer. You should have listened more carefully to her
explanation? The caseworker has the numbers needed to calculate the support
according to the guidelines. That is how it's done. If it wasn't done per the
guidelines, you can appeal. How much income did he show on his affidavit? How
much does your wife earn? Did you do the calculations to confirm the correctness
of the amount? When a dad comes here looking for advise/info on modification, he
is usually directed to the controlling state's guidelines so he knows in
advance, what he will be paying. Sometimes it's more than his current amount,
sometimes less. But, it is always wise to check the guidelines *prior* to filing
for a modification.
========
========

"Gini" wrote in message
...
In article
outparenting.com,
Buryl says...

Earlier in the week my wife went to court in an attempt to have her
monthly
child support increased. She got divorced in 1996, and the child support
award was $189/month. It was also in the divorce decree that her ex keep
full insurance on their daughter. It couldn't be medicare or Allkids (an
Alabama low-income medicare program). It had to be legitimate full
coverage.

Assisting her before the court date was a worker from DHR here, who told
her that they wouldn't help out unless they could guarantee at least a
10%
increase. Those were her exact words. So my wife agreed to go back to
court.

Incidentally, from the time of her divorce, her ex had NEVER put his
daughter on insurance per the divorce decree.

Anyway, we get into court, and her ex shows up with a brand spanking new
insurance card, activated just a week prior to the court date. It seems
he has insured himself, his new wife, and my stepdaughter, but not his
two
other children with his new wife. The divorce decree says he must inform
my wife when he takes out insurance on my stepdaughter, but does NOT give
a timeframe for doing so. So, he lets her know at the hearing that he has
the legitimate insurance. It's an HMO thru his workplace, with (he
states) dues of $300/month. Incidentally, he took out the policy on
himself and his wife in April.

BTW, his income now is far greater than his income at the time of the
divorce.

To make a long story short, the judge reduced the monthly child support
award from $189 to $101. My wife never got the chance to talk to her
lawyer, the judge, or the caseworker assigned to her. Her ex just threw
down the insurance card, they recalculated the support, and my wife had
to
sign off on it. We tried to talk to the caseworker to have her explain
what had happened, but the only answer we got was "It's in the
guidelines"
over and over and over.
========
Then there is your answer. You should have listened more carefully to her
explanation? The caseworker has the numbers needed to calculate the
support
according to the guidelines. That is how it's done. If it wasn't done per
the
guidelines, you can appeal. How much income did he show on his affidavit?
How
much does your wife earn? Did you do the calculations to confirm the
correctness
of the amount? When a dad comes here looking for advise/info on
modification, he
is usually directed to the controlling state's guidelines so he knows in
advance, what he will be paying. Sometimes it's more than his current
amount,
sometimes less. But, it is always wise to check the guidelines *prior* to
filing
for a modification.
========
========

Reading into this a little bit - Since no insurance was in place at the time
of the original order, the court had no way to adjust the basic CS award for
the cost of the insurance. The court ordered the NCP to go get insurance.
Once he had insurance and the cost was known, the court pro-rated the cost
of the insurance and required the CP to pay her portion of the cost. The
reduction of the basic CS award is $88 per month. That amount is 29% of the
cost of insurance. If the CP earns more than 29% of the total income, then
the basic award would have been increased by the court, but the pro-rate for
insurance brought it back down.

From the father's standpoint, what occurred was his Cs payment went from
$189 to $101 plus some portion of the $300. The CP got exactly what the
court ordered and what she asked for.

In article .net, Bob
Whiteside says...


"Gini" wrote in message
...
In article
boutparenting.com,
Buryl says...

Earlier in the week my wife went to court in an attempt to have her
monthly
child support increased. She got divorced in 1996, and the child support
award was $189/month. It was also in the divorce decree that her ex keep
full insurance on their daughter. It couldn't be medicare or Allkids (an
Alabama low-income medicare program). It had to be legitimate full
coverage.

Assisting her before the court date was a worker from DHR here, who told
her that they wouldn't help out unless they could guarantee at least a
10%
increase. Those were her exact words. So my wife agreed to go back to
court.

Incidentally, from the time of her divorce, her ex had NEVER put his
daughter on insurance per the divorce decree.

Anyway, we get into court, and her ex shows up with a brand spanking new
insurance card, activated just a week prior to the court date. It seems
he has insured himself, his new wife, and my stepdaughter, but not his
two
other children with his new wife. The divorce decree says he must inform
my wife when he takes out insurance on my stepdaughter, but does NOT give
a timeframe for doing so. So, he lets her know at the hearing that he has
the legitimate insurance. It's an HMO thru his workplace, with (he
states) dues of $300/month. Incidentally, he took out the policy on
himself and his wife in April.

BTW, his income now is far greater than his income at the time of the
divorce.

To make a long story short, the judge reduced the monthly child support
award from $189 to $101. My wife never got the chance to talk to her
lawyer, the judge, or the caseworker assigned to her. Her ex just threw
down the insurance card, they recalculated the support, and my wife had
to
sign off on it. We tried to talk to the caseworker to have her explain
what had happened, but the only answer we got was "It's in the
guidelines"
over and over and over.
========
Then there is your answer. You should have listened more carefully to her
explanation? The caseworker has the numbers needed to calculate the
support
according to the guidelines. That is how it's done. If it wasn't done per
the
guidelines, you can appeal. How much income did he show on his affidavit?
How
much does your wife earn? Did you do the calculations to confirm the
correctness
of the amount? When a dad comes here looking for advise/info on
modification, he
is usually directed to the controlling state's guidelines so he knows in
advance, what he will be paying. Sometimes it's more than his current
amount,
sometimes less. But, it is always wise to check the guidelines *prior* to
filing
for a modification.
========
========

Reading into this a little bit - Since no insurance was in place at the time
of the original order, the court had no way to adjust the basic CS award for
the cost of the insurance. The court ordered the NCP to go get insurance.
Once he had insurance and the cost was known, the court pro-rated the cost
of the insurance and required the CP to pay her portion of the cost. The
reduction of the basic CS award is $88 per month. That amount is 29% of the
cost of insurance. If the CP earns more than 29% of the total income, then
the basic award would have been increased by the court, but the pro-rate for
insurance brought it back down.

From the father's standpoint, what occurred was his Cs payment went from
$189 to $101 plus some portion of the $300. The CP got exactly what the
court ordered and what she asked for.
=====
I was hopin' you'd do the math ;-)
=====
=====

It's not that hard to see what happened. the new family has expenses, he
makes X dollars. The money he pays out for the insurance is figured as an
expense. It lowered the amount of money available to pay for support. When
you go for a raise in support, it's a double-edged sword. What you thought
would be his complying with the old decree with a raise in support is looked
at as a modification of decree, invalidating the old decree. The new support
amount was calculated according to the child support guidelines. You can
probably find a CS calculator online that will help you see what happened.
You should also be able to get a copy of the court documents, including the
CS worksheets, to see how they arrived at the new amount.
I know it isn't good news, but, with everything I've been through in the
last 6 months, I've kinda had the quickie course in CS and custody
provisions. The good news is that I have them fighting. My first hearing
netted me a win in under 5 minutes. They have been shifting gears and
switching tracks and tactics since then, in an effort to derail my efforts
to remove their illegal claims of arrearages. That single win is one reason
that the amount they claim I owe was increased by over $25,000 in only 4
days. ( I paid all support I ever owed to the original state )
The only thing you can do is fight, but please try to arm yourself with
the same weapons and rules of your opponent, or you are but a lamb to
slaughter. If you cannot do this, then save, and find an attorney to help
you, because the law can turn and bite you if you aren't aware of the
flip-side of the coin.

"Buryl" wrote in message
lkaboutparenting.com...
Earlier in the week my wife went to court in an attempt to have her
monthly
child support increased. She got divorced in 1996, and the child support
award was $189/month. It was also in the divorce decree that her ex keep
full insurance on their daughter. It couldn't be medicare or Allkids (an
Alabama low-income medicare program). It had to be legitimate full
coverage.

Assisting her before the court date was a worker from DHR here, who told
her that they wouldn't help out unless they could guarantee at least a 10%
increase. Those were her exact words. So my wife agreed to go back to
court.

Incidentally, from the time of her divorce, her ex had NEVER put his
daughter on insurance per the divorce decree.

Anyway, we get into court, and her ex shows up with a brand spanking new
insurance card, activated just a week prior to the court date. It seems
he has insured himself, his new wife, and my stepdaughter, but not his two
other children with his new wife. The divorce decree says he must inform
my wife when he takes out insurance on my stepdaughter, but does NOT give
a timeframe for doing so. So, he lets her know at the hearing that he has
the legitimate insurance. It's an HMO thru his workplace, with (he
states) dues of $300/month. Incidentally, he took out the policy on
himself and his wife in April.

BTW, his income now is far greater than his income at the time of the
divorce.

To make a long story short, the judge reduced the monthly child support
award from $189 to $101. My wife never got the chance to talk to her
lawyer, the judge, or the caseworker assigned to her. Her ex just threw
down the insurance card, they recalculated the support, and my wife had to
sign off on it. We tried to talk to the caseworker to have her explain
what had happened, but the only answer we got was "It's in the guidelines"
over and over and over.

My question is this: If the divorce decree says he HAS to have insurance
and he HAS to pay $189/month, what is the justification in almost halving
the support now that he is finally (after all these years) obeying the
original divorce decree?? Common sense would dictate that, in now having
insurance, he is finally complying with the law (insurance AND $189/month
in support).

We both came out of the hearing feeling like my wife had been violated by
her husband, the judge, and her DHR caseworker. Not just my wife but my
stepdaughter, who has the support from her father seriously decreased.

Is there no recourse at this time? Or do we just chalk it up to experience
and go on with our lives?

Buryl

"Gini" wrote in message ...
In article .net, Bob
Whiteside says...


"Gini" wrote in message
...
In article
boutparenting.com,
Buryl says...

Earlier in the week my wife went to court in an attempt to have her
monthly
child support increased. She got divorced in 1996, and the child
support
award was $189/month. It was also in the divorce decree that her ex
keep
full insurance on their daughter. It couldn't be medicare or Allkids
(an
Alabama low-income medicare program). It had to be legitimate full
coverage.

Assisting her before the court date was a worker from DHR here, who
told
her that they wouldn't help out unless they could guarantee at least a
10%
increase. Those were her exact words. So my wife agreed to go back
to
court.

Incidentally, from the time of her divorce, her ex had NEVER put his
daughter on insurance per the divorce decree.

Anyway, we get into court, and her ex shows up with a brand spanking
new
insurance card, activated just a week prior to the court date. It
seems
he has insured himself, his new wife, and my stepdaughter, but not his
two
other children with his new wife. The divorce decree says he must
inform
my wife when he takes out insurance on my stepdaughter, but does NOT
give
a timeframe for doing so. So, he lets her know at the hearing that he
has
the legitimate insurance. It's an HMO thru his workplace, with (he
states) dues of $300/month. Incidentally, he took out the policy on
himself and his wife in April.

BTW, his income now is far greater than his income at the time of the
divorce.

To make a long story short, the judge reduced the monthly child
support
award from $189 to $101. My wife never got the chance to talk to her
lawyer, the judge, or the caseworker assigned to her. Her ex just
threw
down the insurance card, they recalculated the support, and my wife
had
to
sign off on it. We tried to talk to the caseworker to have her
explain
what had happened, but the only answer we got was "It's in the
guidelines"
over and over and over.
========
Then there is your answer. You should have listened more carefully to
her
explanation? The caseworker has the numbers needed to calculate the
support
according to the guidelines. That is how it's done. If it wasn't done
per
the
guidelines, you can appeal. How much income did he show on his
affidavit?
How
much does your wife earn? Did you do the calculations to confirm the
correctness
of the amount? When a dad comes here looking for advise/info on
modification, he
is usually directed to the controlling state's guidelines so he knows
in
advance, what he will be paying. Sometimes it's more than his current
amount,
sometimes less. But, it is always wise to check the guidelines *prior*
to
filing
for a modification.
========
========

Reading into this a little bit - Since no insurance was in place at the
time
of the original order, the court had no way to adjust the basic CS award
for
the cost of the insurance. The court ordered the NCP to go get
insurance.
Once he had insurance and the cost was known, the court pro-rated the
cost
of the insurance and required the CP to pay her portion of the cost. The
reduction of the basic CS award is $88 per month. That amount is 29% of
the
cost of insurance. If the CP earns more than 29% of the total income,
then
the basic award would have been increased by the court, but the pro-rate
for
insurance brought it back down.

From the father's standpoint, what occurred was his Cs payment went from
$189 to $101 plus some portion of the $300. The CP got exactly what the
court ordered and what she asked for.
=====
I was hopin' you'd do the math ;-)
=====
=====

It's all predictable under the established guidelines process for generating
the results, but it's the assumptions behind the guidelines that fathers
challenge.