Child Support

[Kobayashi]

The child custody agreement that my ex and I signed which was ratified by the court does not stipulate that I pay child support. When I asked my attorney about child support when drafting the agreement, he said that we should not raise the issue. It does stipulate that my ex and I share medical expenses. Custody is 50/50 with neither parent having primary custody greater than 183 days per annum. Prior to this agreement, I was required to pay child support in the amount of $500 per month and all medical expenses. Unbeknownst to me, I have continued to pay $500 per month since the court sanctioned agreement went into effect. My questions are: Can I cease to pay the monthly child support? If so, can she reopen the issue of child support and obtain a court order for child support? If she does, will the alimony that she receives be calculated as income in determining each parties required child support contribution? Finally, can I recover the child support payments that have been made since the court sanctioned custody agreement went into effect?

Thanks,
K

[Crystal_Russ]

Your child support order that was in place for $500 is still in effect. This new agreement pertains to custody, and since it is silent on support, the prior order is still in effect. One thing that you may want to check into is that you are likely entitled to paying child support along a Schedule B worksheet, as opposed to Schedule A. Schedule B is for situations of shared custody, and your custody agreement looks to be shared not sole. If you qualify for Schedule B, it is much cheaper than Schedule A, since it accounts for the larger amount of time that the children are in your care. You may want to file a motion to modify child support, since your last order was likely based off of a Schedule A worksheet. As long as it is three years since your order was put in place and the differential between your old support and your new support is greater than 15%, you can file for the modification.