My boyfriend has 2 kids, 7 and 4, he was divorced last year after a 3 yr separation. The mother was cheating and running around drinking during most of the marriage, and subsequently has a 3rd child 14 months younger than the 4 yr old. The father is very active in the kids life, was basically their sole provider for years. In the divorce/custody battle here is what happened... the judge at first awards the mother child support as well as child care(she stays at home with the kids) for $400, this is not allowed in VA, so after his lawyer points this out and the judge comes back at the next hearing with a visitation schedule (they had worked out visitation in the past and it had never been an issue for either) that took days away from the father and gave more to the mother so that the child support still added up to $400. Later we found out that her lawyer and judge were golf buddies. On top of this-she was awarded a settlement for the home that they lived in together for less than a year, and she did not pay anything on.(the award was calculated for the total of the time they bought to the time of the divorce).The problem is, my boyfriend was devastated, taking time from his kids was the worst possible thing that could happen to him-or the kids! At no point did he want to take the kids from their mother-despite her less than perfect moral convictions. But to take time from him made no sense.. how do we get more time! Now when we ask she is concerned that we will take her back to court and take her child support away if we show having them more time than the judge allotted..?

Hello 4:

Visitation has NOTHING to do with child support.

You want more time?? Go back to court. Is it possible to go broke doing this?? Yup!

excon

If that is the case, then how did the child support figure change, even though the income from both parties is still the same? I am not 100% how all of this is calculated. Money is a concern, but the kids are worth anything that we may have to spend. Thanks for the response!

400 per month is not a whole lot of money for 2 kids, I am sorry to say. I know it's hard when you're paying it. Think about it... Don't you eat more than $50 per week worth of food? Don't you want your kids to eat? Where I live you can get a reduction for more time, so what you need to do is get an attorney and offer to settle for the same money and more time IN WRITING. She probably won't listen to threats and such. She will listen if you put it in writing. She probably wants a break from them some anyway.

What state is this in because the rules of the court vary greatly.

I don't know if this will help, but here is a link to figure the child support. It is for the state of VA. I saw it on your profile. Hope it helps!!


Child Support Obligation Calculator - Virginia Department of Social Services