Legal Question in Family Law in Colorado
Child support
My brother is currently paying child support for his son who he sees regularly. The problem is his ex girlfriend has married and wants him out of the picture. She is trying to get his child support so high that she thinks he will just give up on his son so her new husband could be the only father. She owns her own business and owns many veh. boats homes etc. She claims she doesn't have any money because the bussiness suposedly loses money. Since she has married shouldn't that count towards lessening her living expences. Is there any law to protect him or help him. He can barely afford to live now.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Child support
Thank you for your inquiry.
My response is based on the laws of Arizona, as this is the state where I am licensed to practice.
In AZ, child support is determined according to a formula known as the Guidelines. The factors used in determining support are the parties' incomes, the number of children, whether either parent is supporting other natural or adopted children in his/her home, cost of insurance for the child, cost of day care, and amount of visitation exercised by the paying parent. By inputting these items into the formula, the "guideline" child support amount will be determined. This is not a procedure that allows a arbitrarily increase or decrease the child support at whim.
The fact that the mother has remarried will have no bearing on the child support calculation (in AZ). Since only the natural parents have a duty to support, the new spouse's income is irrelevant. In addition, the calculation is based only on income, not on the parents' living expenses.
I hope this information is helpful, and I think it would be a good idea for your brother to speak with an attorney in Colorado.
Monica H. Donaldson
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