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Family court lawyer Jeffrey Johnson helps Staten Island couples settle their child support conflicts with mediation or in court.
Are you satisfied with the child support you are currently paying your ex in Staten Island? If you are receiving child support, is it enough to cover the expenses you are paying to care for your child’s needs (assuming it is even being paid)? If you answered yes to either of these questions, congratulations; you are among the rare and fortunate few.
Most separated parents in New York City (and Staten Island is no exception) will be unhappy with their child support situation, whether they were ever married or not. If you are getting a divorce in the near future, you would be wise to give some thought to the child support that will be included in your divorce agreement because if you do not, the court will make a decision you, too, could soon be unhappy with.
Child support orders, even from a court, are not eternal and unchanging; however, you can try to get yours modified, regardless of whether you are the one paying or receiving child support. In Staten Island, Jeffrey Johnson can help you settle on or modify child support orders to better reflect your rights or the realities of your situation.
Like every other borough of the city, Staten Island follows New York state laws for determining child support. The procedure is always the same, whether you used to live together, were married until recently, or never even knew you had a child together until yesterday.
As long as paternity is confirmed or uncontested, the court will add up your total income from all sources (even unemployment and disability can count, and there is no exception for low-income earners) and calculate a percentage based on the number of children, which needs to be paid from the parent without custody to the parent with custody and care of the children.
Some exceptions can be made or added for parents who are contributing to the care of the child in other ways (such as health insurance or school costs). While arguments can be made by both sides lawyers, once the judge sets the amount, it will be paid, or there will be consequences. Fines and even imprisonment can await parents who do not pay the child support they owe, and no bankruptcy can clear those debts.
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The child support calculation and payment system may appear rather cold and inflexible, and to a large extent, it is, which is a significant part of why so many parents in Staten Island are dissatisfied with it. There are, however, some pivotal moments during the child support process where the right approach or the right arguments by a skilled lawyer can make a difference to the outcome.
Perhaps the most brutal, though occasionally effective, means of changing your current child support situation is to question the most fundamental aspect: parentage itself. If you are not receiving any child support or believe the wrong father is paying for it, then you can get the court to force the man you believe to be the father to take a DNA test to establish paternity.
On the opposite side, if you are being asked to pay child support for a child who you believe is not yours, you can contest the paternity and even have a DNA test done to determine if you are, in fact, the father.
In either case, you will want a lawyer’s guidance to ensure your rights and all procedures are correctly followed. But in most cases, there is no real contest to the paternity, so it is rarely a viable option for changing your child support situation.
During the divorce process, at least until the final agreement is reached, both parents will have the right to agree on a child support amount that will be paid once the divorce is settled. As long as they can reach an agreement and both sign it without duress, the New York Supreme Court Judge handling the divorce will generally sign off on it and make it official.
Such a solution requires reaching a mutual agreement, however, which is not always easy. It might require careful negotiations with give and take to get a compromise. You should not try this without an attorney present, and never sign an agreement without having a lawyer review it to avoid being taken advantage of. An attorney can also help you both pursue mediation if you are having trouble reaching a child support agreement.
Most of the time, however, it will be too late to contest paternity or reach a mutual agreement by the time you realize your current child support situation is a problem. In these cases, you will have to seek out a modification to the original child support order, which is difficult but not impossible, especially with the help of a skilled attorney like Jeffrey Johnson.
If at least three years have passed since the initial child support order, or either parent’s income and financial situation have substantially changed, you can file a request for a modification. Whenever possible, this will be done using a Modified Order Through Stipulation, which is an agreement reached between you and the other parent with the help of your lawyers and a social worker. Such an agreement will help you avoid court and its associated costs, but it faces all the same challenges as reaching a compromise during a divorce.
If/When that mediation process fails, you will have to go to court to obtain a modification, which will need to be based on substantial evidence of a change in income on either parent’s part. With a good lawyer at your side, this is often the only path to a successful change in your child support situation, especially when the other parent refuses to budge.
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The Law Offices Of Jeffrey W Johnson | Helping parents in Staten Island protect their rights and care for their children.
Just because your current child support situation was ordered by a court does not mean it cannot be modified. If you are unable to keep paying, or unable to get by without more child support, our family court lawyers can help you reach a successful modification.
Do not play with fire by refusing to pay or risk your child’s future by going without the money you need to get by. Call our offices today at (718) 557-9767 to obtain a free consultation to discuss your situation and how we can help.
36 Richmond Terrace
Suite 118
Staten Island, NY 10301
Phone: (718) 557-9767
Call Now For A Free Consultation! (718) 557-9767
