Legal Question in Family Law in New Jersey
I am hoping that you can help. I have been divorced for 10 years now and share joint custody for my two children with my ex-wife. She is the custodial parent and my children live with their Mom are with me each Wednesday night and every other weekend. My divorce agreement states that I need to continue to pay child support until my children are "emancipated" - out of the house and that both Mother and Father will split any College costs for both children. So now onto my question involving child support and college expenses. It is not that I do not want to pay, as my children have always been my first priority. However, I was laid off for 10 months, accepted another job for less money and the child support payments that were calculated and agreed to 10 months ago (even though they were based upon child care expenses for both children) have never been recalculated and adjusted. I pay $520 every two weeks and have been doing that now for 10 years. However, my daughter is now a Senior in High School and we are trying to determine ways to pay for College and I'm not sure how I can afford as I live today going week-to-week on my paycheck. I don't know how I could afford an additional expense like this. What are my options and do I have any choices specific to child support, sharing in college expenses, etc.? Please advise.
Sincerely,
Mark Welch
2 Answers from Attorneys
When a child goes to college, this is a substantial change of circumstance and the parties would need to look at the current situation, both as to income for the parties and college expenditures, and redetermine the proper amount of child support, which would not necessarily be calculated based on the child support guidelines. You definitely need to discuss this with an attorney.
Keep in mind that this advice is given based on the little bit of information that you have provided in your question. My advice may change based on other information. Further, no one can rely on advice from an attorney who has not been retained. You cannot rely on this advice because we have not personally met and you have not retained me as an attorney. If you have not already done so, you should immediately meet with a Family Law attorney for a full consultation before you take any further steps. Good luck! Rob Gleaner
This is one of the most complicated issues with divorce, the cost of college and the amount of child support. It is also affected by your loss of income. To give you any detailed answer, I would need to sit down with you and go over your financial information in detail.
Give me a call, make an appointment to come see me, and let's get moving on this for you.
Robert Davies, Esq. 201-820-3460
My contact information can be obtained from the links below, just click on the Attorney Profile link. Let my secretary know you found me through LawGuru.
For more information on family law and divorce, see my website: http://www.attorneyrobertdavies.com
Please keep in mind that my response is just a general comment on your question, and not legal advice. Your question and any response does NOT create an attorney-client relationship between you and this law firm. The exact details of your situation and things that you have not mentioned in your question can completely change the answer to your question. You can not rely upon what I have written, because I do not have all of the formation that I need to advise you, I only have the very small amount of information that you put into your question. For me to give you any legal advice, I would need for you to hire me to be your lawyer, and then we would need to discuss this in detail and go over the documents.
To get legal advice that you can rely on and use, please contact me directly. I would be happy to assist you.
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