Child Support Hearing

North Carolina Divorce Law Divorce and Separation Answers
1

My ex and I did the “do it yourself” route and signed a separation agreement that we’ve been following for the last 3 years or so. In January, he “arbitrarily” decided that the alimony payments we agreed upon were too much and he abruptly ended them. Because our separation agreement didn’t include a provision for reimbursement of attorney’s fees, I filed a motion with the help of an attorney including the separation agreement in an Absolute Divorce. My understanding is once the divorce paperwork is signed and the divorce is final, if he continues to not pay alimony, I can then pursue a contempt of court action against him because the alimony will have been court ordered.

I went through CSE as well and have a court date scheduled July 1. When we agreed on the initial amounts for CS, it was based on our incomes then and with 50/50 custody. My ex travels SIGNIFICANTLY on business and I keep a very detailed calendar noting the number of overnights. This year, he’s had them so far only 40 overnights and I’ve had them over 80. Can I bring this information forward at the CS hearing and get support modified, even though we “agreed” on a set amount in the property settlement agreement?

2

You can request that CSE do a modification based on significant change of circumstances. It sounds like you may have originally calculated child support off of worksheet B. If your ex only get the child 40 overnights it needs to be calculated on worksheet A which can make a significant difference in the child support obligation. You can use the rosen calculator to check and see what the difference would be.

3

Question 1) You can either incorporate the separation agreement into the divorce decree, assuming the agreement allows you to do so and then file a Motion to Show Cause; or you can file a lawsuit right now for breach of contract instead of waiting for the absolute divorce

  1. Yes, you can use the record of overnights to date in order to show that he is not following the 50/50 custodial schedule and that child support needs to be under a Schedule A. However, the court will first determine whether the amount of child support is reasonable. BUT, if you wait until the separation agreement is incorporated, the court will instead need to find a “substantial change in circumstances” in order to modify the amount of child support.