Friend of Court Incorrectly Calculated Income for Child Support
My question involves a child custody case from the State of: Michigan
Hello everyone,
I'm looking for some guidance of where to go now. My daughters mother took me back to court for an increase in child support. I provided my W2 and paycheck stubs during my intake with the clerk. My W2 shows that I make less money per year than my current YTD on my paycheck stubs because my work has unpaid time off coming up through the holidays. The initial clerk calculated my income showing I made $1,000 more a month than what I actually make on my paycheck stubs. My vacation pay is automatically paid out every quarter and I was thinking maybe that was where the error occurred. I had another clerk look at it and she made an adjustment but it was still $600 a month more than what I make. I was running out of time to appeal so I paid an attorney to go to a referee hearing. We were very specific regarding my income. I provided my current paycheck stubs, my W2 again, and a letter from my employer stating I do not have the ability to make overtime and my income is 40 hours a week. I have no other income, no retirement, nothing. I get my referee recommendation and they have my income calculated even higher than the first clerk input. At this point I'm dumbfounded. They have me calculated making over $12,000 more a year than I have ever made in my whole life. I calculate my current YTD total divided by the number of weeks worked thus far and it comes out less than my hourly wage at 40 hours (more unpaid time off previously in the year). Me and my attorney have tried to explain this to them until we were blue in the face. I have no idea where to turn next. Its ridiculous. How can they calculate me making a substantial amount of money more than I have ever made in my life? A friend said to call the governor to have someone higher review my case. I've already paid $3,000 in attorneys fees to correct their error. Why do I need to keep paying for an attorney to fix the friend of the courts error? My income is simple math, black and white. How do they keep getting it wrong? Please help. :wallbang: Note, I have no problem paying child support for what my correct income actually is if they could actually get it right.
Re: Friend of Court Incorrectly Calculated Income 3 Times and No End in Sight
This is confusing. Are you trying to say that you do NOT work 40 hours a week some of the time?
Also, (and this confuses many people) if you are paid weekly or biweekly then there are certain months of the year when you receive three paychecks. Therefore, month child support is calculated based on the total of 26 or 52 pay periods per year divided by 12 months.
Re: Friend of Court Incorrectly Calculated Income 3 Times and No End in Sight
I apologize for the confusion. I'm paid weekly. I have been a contract employee to a big company for the past 10 years. My contract company only recognizes a portion of the holidays the bigger company recognizes. It is because of this that I have unpaid days off (certain holidays, 1 week for thanksgiving, and 2 weeks at Christmas to New Years my company doesn't pay for) because my supervisor (employed by big company) is not on site. I also take off 3 weeks vacation. 2 weeks are paid. Leaving 4-5 weeks a year unpaid. My 5 yr old son lives with me and there are days I also take off for doctors appointments and sick days (unpaid) but that is completely random.
The referee has my income calculated at 52 weeks plus 2 weeks paid vacation (54 weeks pay). Even though I have a letter from my employer stating I don't make overtime and the other unpaid time off was explained by myself and my attorney in great detail during the hearing under oath. I also provided my past years W2's that show for the past 3 years I've made approximately the same amount plus/minus $1k to 2k per year. The referees calculation is 12k higher than that average (WAY more than I have ever made in the 10 years working for this company and in my life).
My attorney said they may be using possible or potential income. I don't understand how that is legal when I have provided all documentation supporting I have never made what they say I "possibly" could make. I'm waiting to hear back for sure but what options do I have? I have other children that have cases through other courts in the same state and I have never had this problem. The other courts used the W2's in comparison to my current paycheck stub for accurate income calculations.
The other issue I have is that my ex wasn't required to show her current income in the referee hearing. When my attorney asked for her current pay stubs she said, well you have that information when I originally filed. She also refused to provide W2's. They used her paycheck stubs she provided 4 months again when she filed for the support increase. She admitted in the referee hearing that she works all of the overtime she can get (which is a lot). Since the initial filing she has been working 7 days a week getting double time and triple time (she has told me and I have had to get my daughter so she could work the OT). How can they make a decision for me on "potential" income and leave her income the same unchanged (clerk input income) based on what she made 4 months ago on paycheck stubs? I try to think of courts as unbias but this has me really wondering how they can have their own set of rules that the other courts don't seem to follow. If the role was reversed you know they would be darn sure to get ahold of my current paycheck stubs for support calculation.