Child support, days/nights

I think for your situation, if your ex will not agree to an amount, you will want a judge to hear it. I suggest just basing it on average and don’t worry about being exact on the number of overnights. Put that amount in an agreement. If the ex wants to push things so that it does end up in court, then quit letting her pick up the child right before bedtime. You want to try to do what you can to keep it out of court,but it sounds to me as though you are being too accomodating to the ex and she’s taking advantage of that.
I’m not certain what type of custody you are interested in but my suggestion would be joint custody with equal time. This way she stays the same amount of time with each parent. If the ex works erratic schedules then suggest a set schedule and adapt if needed. Switch days if necessary but make sure that the time frame is set. This means the child is with that parent from whenever they are picked up until school starts the next morning (during school the child is in the custody of the school) or if not school age or during summer, then it would be a designated time that the other parent picks the child up. Even with joint custody you could still pay some in child support but this way the whole responsibility is not on one parent.

stepmother,

Thanks for your response. I have posted another thread about 50/50 custody given my situation. I would greatly appreciate anything you have to add there as well.

Anyone else able to comment on the “one night vs. two days” issue?

Thanks,
endofrope

Unfortunately the child support guidelines are based solely on the number of overnights. You could file a notice to deviate from the guidelines based on the circumstances you described and ask the cour to set an alternate amount of child support, however that is not the most likely outcome.

P.S. Please feel free to bring up this or any other topic on our live call-in show every Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. EST. Visit radio.rosen.com/live for details

Helena M. Nevicosi
Attorney with Rosen Law Firm

4101 Lake Boone Trail, Suite 500
Raleigh, North Carolina 27607
919.787.6668 main phone
919.787.6361 main fax

Charlotte Office
301 McCullough Drive
Suite 510
Charlotte, NC 28262
Main Phone: (704)307.4600
Main Fax: (704) 9343.0044

Durham & Chapel Hill Office
1829 East Franklin Street
Building 600
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
(919) 321.0780

The response posted above is based upon the limited factual information made available and is not intended as a full and complete response to the question. The only reliable manner to obtain complete and adequate legal advice is to consult with an attorney, fully explain your situation, and allow the attorney sufficient opportunity to research the applicable law and facts required to render an accurate opinion. The basic information provided above is intended as a public service only, a full discussion with an attorney should be undertaken before taking any action. The information posted on this forum is available for public viewing and is not intended to create an attorney client relationship with any individual. These answers are provided for informational purposes only, a person should consult with their own individual legal counsel before taking any action that could affect their legal rights or obligations.

Hello,

I have been using the Child Support Calculator and other info on rosen.com to educate myself on how a court might determine monthly child support payments given my situation.

My issue with the calculator is that it is heavily based on “nights” my daughter spends with myself (father) vs. her mother. In my situation, our daughter would be spending essentially 2 entire days with me, but the mother wishes to pick our daughter up exactly at our daughter’s bedtime in order to “not be separated from her for so long.” She wishes for the child support payment to reflect that I had her for only one night since she would be picking our daughter up right before the second night would take place.

That would take place weekly, and there are other nights of the month (when the mother occasionally works both weekend days) in addition to that weekly occurrence.

Given that I am willing to work with the mother’s constantly changing weekly schedule (it is rarely the same from week to week). I feel that this is clearly taking advantage of the “nights spent” input in the child support calculation. It doesn’t cost anything for our daughter to be asleep. It’s the cost of her care for the 2 entire days of her waking hours that I’m seeing.

We are in the process of trying to work this out on our own before truley going legal with it and involving attourneys, mediator, etc…

My question is this: were it to go to a mediator and/or judge, are they likely to be sympathetic to the fact that I will be providing support for 2 entire days (weekly) and take that into account in their calculation?

Thanks,
endofrope.