I have been divorced for 3 years now. I have two sons, and the separation agreement that was signed dictated that my ex and and I have joint custody, with 50-50 time split. Because we made the same amount of money, there were no child support payments to either side.
A year and a half ago, my ex called me asking to amend the custody schedule so that the my sons would be with me approximately 85% of the time. I did now ask for any financial assistant. She also remarried. I am not going to opine on how that affected her decision. She also never spoke to my sons how they might feel regarding a change of schedule.
Last week, she told our sons that she is pregnant. Yesterday, she met with our sons and told them that she felt that they would be happier with me all the time and was thus giving up her remaining time with them. She told them that she would meet them for dinner on Wednesdays, but then return them to my place that night. Needless to say, my sons were extremely emotional and even begged her not to do this. They had a horrible night last night and I tried my best to comfort them.
Right now, this coming weekend is supposed to be a weekend with their mother. She has still not contacted me indicating her unilateral decisions to change the schedule. Fortunately I am in town, but she never inquired if I was able to watch them 100% or if the new schedule would work for me. I am a lucky man to have such sons, and am happy to be with them 100% of the time.
This situation now brings up a few questions. Will I be able to request child support from her now? Does this change our custody structure? Will I get the boys full custody? Her family has a tremendous amount of money and I don’t want my sons to be deprived of any financial amounts that were supposed to come their way later in life, especially as they were about to go to college.
Any insight?
Thank you.
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Yes you can collect child support.
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The custody schedule change occurred so long as you two agree… but I would want it official, and in writing.
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You can’t force a parent to pay for college, nor can you force them to keep them included in a will. However, you can ask.
You should modify the agreement or enter into a court order for custody which reflects the arrangement that you reach with your ex-wfie. I would have to look at your separation agreement to fully understand your child support agreement and how you should go about modifying that, but it sounds like once you have the new custody schedule in writing, you should file an action for child support. Depending upon how amicable your relationship with your ex-wife is, you could also attempt to enter a support order by consent.