Legal Question in Family Law in Texas

Court or No Court

I recently obtained temporary custody of my 15 year-old son. He wanted to come live with us. For 3 months, while he was living with us, child support was being withdrawn from my check and ex was not paying anything. The temporary order stopped payment and ordered her to pay a small amount that we both agreed to. Since that time the ex has made several demands-wants to pay limited child support, wants to cover with her medical insurance instead of paying me for mine (mine's better), wants us to remain living at current address, wants to claim son on tax returns, etc. Although I was not in agreement with several of her wishes, I have agreed to all of them. She's paying small amount of child support, only paying me back one months child support that I paid her (even though he was in our custody for 3 months), not paying back payments of child support for the months I had him, getting joint custody, using her medical insurance, and claiming him on her taxes. I will probably be losing over $6,000 in this matter. Financially, would it be advisable to go to court or to just sign the paperwork and be done with it?


Asked on 12/16/03, 1:47 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Elizabeth Schaefer SCHAEFER LAW FIRM

Re: Court or No Court

Without knowing more details, it is difficult to assess what amount of negotiations would be necessary to arrive at an amended divorce decree acceptable to both of you. I assume that the $6,000 amount you mention relate to the "loss" for this year, only. Depending on your son's age, this amount may apply for a number of years. Also, conceding to demands that you are not comfortable with may establish an undesirable precedence.

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Answered on 12/16/03, 4:01 pm


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