Poorly Written Div. Decree

My decree ordered child support in the amount of $1000. I have two
children. One will be 21 in September. The DA's office in Oregon says
that since the decree does not say $500 each, that the younger child
will default to $1000/mo. and the support won't change, even though my
oldest turns 21 and technically "falls" off the support chow wagon. I
have lost car allowances and fully 2/3rds of my pay is OT just to live.
Has anyone encountered this in Oregon? H E L P!

"Takentothecleaners" wrote in message
oups.com...
My decree ordered child support in the amount of $1000. I have two
children. One will be 21 in September. The DA's office in Oregon says
that since the decree does not say $500 each, that the younger child
will default to $1000/mo. and the support won't change, even though my
oldest turns 21 and technically "falls" off the support chow wagon. I
have lost car allowances and fully 2/3rds of my pay is OT just to live.
Has anyone encountered this in Oregon? H E L P!

I'm in Oregon and have some experience with what you are experiencing. I
highly recommend you contact a lawyer to help you because there are so many
variables. The state legislature has made a lot of recent changes to the CS
laws for post-18 to age 21 children which makes the language in your CS
order extremely meaningful to what you need to do. Here's the basics:

If you have an older order that hasn't been modified during the last 2-3
years it should have language about CS being extended automatically for a
child attending school at age 18 to age 21. Since you have two children
this order will remain in place until it is modified. That means the DA's
comments are correct and you will need to file a change of circumstances
modification motion to demonstrate the order should change from two children
to one child and the amount of support should be reduced to cover just one
child. (Don't trust the DA to do this for you. My experience is they will
claim to help you and then after long delays come up with reasons why they
can't help you. That's why you need a private attorney to advise you on
your course of action and/or to do a filing.)

The other variables are less likely, but still in play. If your order was
modified recently and states you pay the adult child attending school CS
directly to the child, then the CS orders for each child are already
separated and what you need to do is get the older child's CS order
terminated. This possibility is complicated even further by whether or not
the adult child took the legal step to join the lawsuit and become an
independent judgment creditor. There is also the possibility the older
child has a CS order from one or both parents.

Another variable is a recent wrinkle. The child attending school language
used in recently modified CS orders was changed to allow changes of orders
without modification when an adult child quits schools, re-enrolls in
school, or makes other changes. This also implies the amount of support
paid for each of the two children has been pre-defined.

The final variable is whether or not there are any arrearages and when they
occurred. For a while current support went to the CP, then current support
went to the over 18 adult child but arrearages went to the CP, then the law
changed to give the arrearages to the child. Whichever termination
circumstance you have should also address how any arrearages are handled and
distributed.

see the Petition to modify in How to Minimize support available at
http://www.fathers-rights.com and file for a modification ASAP!It will be
reduced!
"Takentothecleaners" wrote in message
oups.com...
My decree ordered child support in the amount of $1000. I have two
children. One will be 21 in September. The DA's office in Oregon says
that since the decree does not say $500 each, that the younger child
will default to $1000/mo. and the support won't change, even though my
oldest turns 21 and technically "falls" off the support chow wagon. I
have lost car allowances and fully 2/3rds of my pay is OT just to live.
Has anyone encountered this in Oregon? H E L P!