Legal Question in Family Law in Texas
My husband's ex-wife and him have a daughter age 12. His ex-wife keeps asking for money outside of his child support that he already pays and is putting their daughter in the middle of it. She had her new husband ask us to help pay for my step-daughter's pig. My husband pays 20% of his paycheck to her already. This causes friction between my step-daughter and my husband's relationship. He just a cash cow to the ex-wife. He doesn't see her on the weekends and on holidays and mainly because the mother puts her in the middle of everything. She also acts like she doesn't have money when her new husband makes way more then we do combined. She also said that even though my husband and I have two children together the child support will still go up. My husband didn't claim the children at the last review because I was pregnant with the oldest one. So he couldn't use them. Will the child support go down because of the two children we have together?
1 Answer from Attorneys
1. You need to be firm about the child support; tell Mom that Dad will pay the child support as ordered, and that she shouldn't ask for any more. Just say no.
If Mom keeps asking, keep saying "no."
If she tries to use the daughter as a weapon, keep saying "no."
If she doesn't speak English, learn Spanish. Or Russian. Or Arabic. Whatever language she speaks, learn the word for "no," and keep saying it to her. Don't let yourself be pushed around.
Mail a letter to her that says, "Dear Ellen: Regarding extra child support money: NO. Love, Rodney." It will cost you 44 cents.
2. To calculate what Dad's child support SHOULD be (this is a rough calculation, but will be 95% accurate), do this:
a. Figure out how much Dad brings home each month. I'm assuming that his income is consistent, and doesn't fluctuate much, and that he doesn't get a $25,000 bonus on Christmas. I'm assuming that his income has been about the same for the past 12 months.
b. Multiply that number by 16% (I'm assuming that he's paying for ONE child, and he has TWO children at home, living with him, that are his, and that he has no other minor children).
That's how much child support would be ordered if you went to court tomorrow and presented the figures to a Judge (I'm assuming that his daughter is basically healthy and doesn't have "special needs").
If this number is significantly LOWER than what he's now being ordered to pay, file a Motion for Modification and ask the Court to lower the child support.
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