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Can You Modify Arrears Based Upon a Recalculation of Support

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  • 03-26-2014, 02:43 PM
    superhawkmike
    Can You Modify Arrears Based Upon a Recalculation of Support
    My question involves child support in the State of: California

    Went to court, and had the child support modification done to now reflect what I really make. But the information they have is incorrect for what the order was previously. I would like to see a judge and modify my arrears if possible(went from $5800 down to $3600). How do I go about doing that? The previous order was based off of me making approx. $1000 dollars more a month than what I actually make, and having the kids 2 days a month, instead of me having them what I actually do which is 12-13 days a month, plus her pay was almost double then, of what it is now. Child support is crushing me, and when I am at work (1st year pilot at a regional airline making $1800 a month), well, I am getting really sick of Ramen Noodles!

    P.S. Last thread I posted turned into a debate. I just want some advice please.

    Edit to add: The plot thickens. I finally got a hold of someone in payroll, and no wage assessment was ever done according to them to calculate my earnings. What do I do about that?
  • 03-26-2014, 03:27 PM
    mmmagique
    Re: Arrears Modification
    You won't get an arrears modification unless the court made an egregious error in setting up the support in the first place. You should have asked for a reassessment when things changed.
  • 03-26-2014, 03:35 PM
    CourtClerk
    Re: Arrears Modification
    Who is enforcing the order? If DCSS is, it'll take a while to get a wage assignment to your employer. In the meantime, make your payments directly to them (send them to the State Disbursement Unit - you can pay it online) or drop it off at your local child support office.

    They don't modify arrears to go further than the effective date of the modification. In other words, if you have been overpaying your support for a year and you waited to file for modification, then you're stuck with that year of overpayments.
  • 03-26-2014, 04:06 PM
    superhawkmike
    Re: Arrears Modification
    Quote:

    Quoting CourtClerk
    View Post
    Who is enforcing the order? If DCSS is, it'll take a while to get a wage assignment to your employer. In the meantime, make your payments directly to them (send them to the State Disbursement Unit - you can pay it online) or drop it off at your local child support office.

    They don't modify arrears to go further than the effective date of the modification. In other words, if you have been overpaying your support for a year and you waited to file for modification, then you're stuck with that year of overpayments.

    But as far as I can tell so far, they had no information to go off of to calculate my earnings. How do I find out how they did that. My employer has no record of them asking for any kind of income. The only thing there is proof of is a wage garnishment, and verification of employment. No wage assessment. Like they pulled it out of thin air or got it from my children's mother.
  • 03-26-2014, 04:19 PM
    CourtClerk
    Re: Arrears Modification
    Quote:

    Quoting superhawkmike
    View Post
    But as far as I can tell so far, they had no information to go off of to calculate my earnings. How do I find out how they did that. My employer has no record of them asking for any kind of income. The only thing there is proof of is a wage garnishment, and verification of employment. No wage assessment. Like they pulled it out of thin air or got it from my children's mother.

    They don't need to contact your employer. They use the EDD database
  • 03-26-2014, 04:20 PM
    mmmagique
    Re: Arrears Modification
    Well weren't you at the hearing? Didn't you answer any questions or submit any documents? If not, they probably went by your known previous earnings, or they imputed you a reasonable income for your education/work experience.
  • 03-26-2014, 05:30 PM
    superhawkmike
    Re: Arrears Modification
    Quote:

    Quoting mmmagique
    View Post
    Well weren't you at the hearing? Didn't you answer any questions or submit any documents? If not, they probably went by your known previous earnings, or they imputed you a reasonable income for your education/work experience.


    No. I was in training for my job when this started. They sent the paperwork for me to show up to the hotel I stayed at, and I never knew a judgment had been entered until my employer sent me a letter that they were going to garnish my wages. By the time thebpaper work got there, I was already back home, and I think the paperwork arrived there asnI was headed back home. They say that they have records of who I was working for, but won't produce them to me because,they are "confidential." I think that's total B.S. because it's not only info about me, but it effects me as well. Neither of the companies I worked for last year total out to what the amount they say I was making is. And I never received any proof of service for this.

    How/what paperwork do I file for this. I had an attorney, but he was horrible and clueless. I spent all my savings on him to get what I could have done myself. I want copies of how the figured my income, and how do I dispute the arrears. I would like to impute her income as well, but have been told I can't. She has decided to go back to school, and hasn't worked in about 6 months. I have saved her text messages that she "has decided to go back to school and collect unemployment." So I am basically supporting her to go back to school. I have a great relationship with my kodsm. I commute across the country a few times a month to see them as many days as I have off. It's not easy, but my daughter is very young, my son is in 1st grade, so it's really important I be home as much as possible. But I can't survive on what I make. The pay will get considerably better as the years go on, so will the time off. But I need to pay my dues for a while.
  • 03-26-2014, 05:43 PM
    CourtClerk
    Re: Arrears Modification
    You're not going to get the information on how they calculated your income if you didn't find it important enough to show at the hearing. You would have been shown a copy of the dissomaster at that time. I answered how you dispute the arrears. You don't. Since you don't know how they calculated your income, you have no clue as to how or if they imputed her an income..

    but since you paid your attorney, ask HIM. He's got the records.

    BTW... you can't just quit your job, collect unemployment and decide to go to school. It doesn't work that way. Ever.
  • 03-26-2014, 06:18 PM
    superhawkmike
    Re: Arrears Modification
    Quote:

    Quoting CourtClerk
    View Post
    You're not going to get the information on how they calculated your income if you didn't find it important enough to show at the hearing. You would have been shown a copy of the dissomaster at that time. I answered how you dispute the arrears. You don't. Since you don't know how they calculated your income, you have no clue as to how or if they imputed her an income..

    but since you paid your attorney, ask HIM. He's got the records.

    BTW... you can't just quit your job, collect unemployment and decide to go to school. It doesn't work that way. Ever.

    Since it seems like you are misunderstanding what I am trying to get at here, I'll give you a play by play.

    I started my job in June. August she decided she was going to file for an official order of child support. I had been splitting the time and every cost of my kids up until that point since we were making about the same money, which wasn't much. I was contacted by DCSS via phone, and told them I was temporarily staying at a hotel in Georgia. They sent some paperwork to the hotel, but I had already gone back to California since the training was over. My position allows me to commute to anywhere in the country, for free, so I choose to do that. By the time I had changed my address with DCSS, the paper work had already made it's way to the hotel in GA, and I never received it. I never knew I had a court date. I was informed by my employer that there was an order to garnish my wages for child support, and that was how I found out. She never mentioned a word to me about any of it. Had I known that they needed paperwork, I would have given them whatever they wanted. But I didn't, because it was sent to the wrong address since I was no longer staying at the hotel, and it was in the interim that the paperwork was sent. When I got the notice of wage garnishment, which was nearly my entire paycheck, was when I got the attorney. He was money wasted, because all he was good for was getting the order modified. After the modification, I had nearly used up my retainer. So, having no other money to pay him with, I am forced to do this on my own.

    Where I am now. The original order of support was based off of what? I don't know. It has since been modified to reflect what I currently make, and what she currently makes on unemployment. She did not quit. She took a temporary job, as a contractor, and when it ran out, she decided to go back to school, and collect unemployment. So everything that is on paper now, is correct. What I want to do is have my arrears reviewed, by a judge, and determine how they calculated my income. I was done a disservice, and deserve to see a judge about this stuff. I asked the "helper" how the computed my income, she said via a wage assessment given to them by my employer. If that is true, it's wrong. It almost seems as if they doubled my pay, since I am gaurented 75hrs a month, and they doubled that amount, thinking I was getting that every two weeks. But, my employer has no record of ever sending them one. So, how did they do it? I asked to see it, she said "that's confidential, you'll have to get a court order to see it." So, that's what I am trying to do. Get the court order to see how they computed my income, then, since I know it's not accurate information, go see a judge and hope that the arrears can be adjusted.

    Is any of this making sense? All I want to do is see how they computed my income for the original child support order, and take that in to a judge to show him it was wrong. I never had my day in court, because I was never served. My attorney was horrible, and I could have done what he did on my own. All he did was fill out the paperwork for the support adjustment, and charged me an arm and leg for it. Now, I am going to have to see what I can do to bring the arrears to what they should be. I have never left her or my kids "high and dry." I spend time with them, I do homework with my son, I potty train my daughter. I'm not some deadbeat dad that wants nothing to do with his kids. It already kills me I don't see them everyday. And for that, I get a supreme butt ramming? That's not how the system is supposed to work.

    How do I get a record of how they computed my income from the first hearing, which not only was I not present for, I wasn't served for, and have no record of how the figured my income to put in the dissomaster(calculator)?
  • 03-26-2014, 06:39 PM
    CourtClerk
    Re: Arrears Modification
    Apparently my first answer wasn't good enough for you so let me give you a play by play.

    You're not going to get what you want from DCSS. They don't have to provide it to you. They're not going to retroactively modify your arrears. Did I make it easier for you to understand this time? I am INTIMATELY familiar with both DCSS and the family court in CA. Why? Because I've worked for them BOTH. In case I didn't make myself clear enough before or if in case you liked the advice of someone who hasn't worked for them over someone who has, let me try one more time.

    They use EDD's system for income information. They're not going to give you what you're asking for. They don't have to. They're not going to retroactively modify your arrears.
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