After 12 years of marriage, my husband and I separated. We get on well and have decided to represent ourselves. In August he moved to Rhode Island to take his dream teaching job. Our daughters stayed with me and only see him two weekends a month. I earn significantly more than he does so that I can afford to meet their needs. Given our income, I think it makes sense not to pay child support and instead apply your salary to my income of over $ 250,000 to figure out maintenance.
My husband is concerned that a judge would not approve child support because our girls are only 10 years old. Can you tell me how to structure this so that a judge will approve our plan?
Judges do not like agreements that have no child support because it is not your right to forego it, but your children’s right to be supported. However, there are two ways to work around the problem. First, you can have the court appoint a Special Purpose Guardian Ad Litem to investigate the situation and hopefully recommend that waiving child support is in the best interests of your children. I suggest you don’t go that route. In this case there is an easier way.
If there is a support component, you can call it “unallocated support”. This means that it is a combined maintenance and maintenance ruling. The catch is that you have to be careful when drawing. The duration of your maintenance obligation is shorter than the period during which your children are entitled to maintenance. Your agreement should include a plan for college. I suggest you have the end of unallocated support after girls graduate from high school. Then, formulate who pays what for college, and make college dues the only “support” for the children at that point.
Before entering into the contract with your husband, be sure to follow the guidelines for child support on the first $ 250,000 of combined income. See how much he would have to pay you as child benefit. Then take the difference between your respective earnings over the amount used for the combined $ 250,000 and apply a middle way percentage (let’s say 25% since alimony is not a taxable event). Subtract the amount he would owe for child support from what you would owe for child support to see if the numbers are close to what you are currently willing to pay.
Final Tips (1) If you don’t want attorneys, hire at least one attorney / mediator to draft your agreement so that it gets carried out properly. (2) Provide a worksheet with guidelines for child support even if child support is not paid the judge will want and (3) find out if child support is deductible on RI state tax returns – it’s in Massachusetts.
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