My children’s father has filed a ‘Modification to Child Support’ order and we are going to court in January because he wants me to pay him a larger amount of child support. He has the children 214 overnights and I have them 151 overnights. He is claiming that he only has an income of $500 a month. 1) He averaged about 10,000 a month while we were married. 2) He has told me he is not currently looking for work because he is trying to build up his current wife’s business and that she pays him the $500 a month. I do not have this in writing or email. I only heard it from him over the phone when I asked him about the business. The worksheet he provided showed the $500 a month. He says the busines is completely in her name. I have a very modest income and can not afford what he is asking for. How do I prove he is suppressing his income? Do I need to file anything in response to the modification or just bring up my beliefs and show previous income evidence during the hearing? Thank You
I prefer not to file anything before the hearing. This just gives the opposing side knowledge of your arguments and time to prepare a response.
He has a duty to support his child, and if earned even minimum wage, he would earn $1,256 per month. I know this isn’t a lot, but I would run the calculations with this figure to see what the support obligation is.
I would prepare to show his past income, and I would subpoena him to bring a number of things with him to court including bank statements, evidence of seeking employment, and any tax documents for 2011 and 2012.
I would also consider subpoenaing his wife and her business records (operating agreement, checking and credit card statements). She doesn’t have a duty to support the child, but I would look for evidence that he is more involved in the business than he says as this might be an argument to get the judge to impute income to him.