Ready for a confusing question? My husband and I had a church wedding, but no court house documents... so we reside together, but are not "legally married". We are both military, but residents of different states (I'm a California resident, and he's and Alabama resident). He has 2 children from his first marriage, and they reside in AL with their mother. He has recently expressed interest in getting the child support modified, as the amount was established when his ex had no income (she works now), and also when the children were in daycare (he was responsible for 1/2 the daycare, but they are school-aged now, and no longer go to daycare). My questions are:
1.) If he re-filed, should we expect his support to go down, based on the fact that he doesn't have to pay 1/2 of the daycare costs anymore, and also that she has income as well?
2.) Would MY income be included in the calculations? (Would his % be calculated on his income, or total household income).
3.) If my income IS supposed to be included, does her live-in boyfriend's get included on her part as well?

Trying to get some idea of where to go with this before we spend the money to fly out and get a lawyer. Thanks for your help!

Your income and her boyfriend income does not matter in this. (normally does not matter even if married) The church wedding info has no bearing on this, that was just for show and has no legal standing, you are not married, the ex is not married.

It will be based on his current income, so if he is also now making higher amounts of money, that will be looked at. The ex can also ask for things like 1/2 of non paid medical costs, have child covered under his insurance. 1/2 of things like after school programs, dance or music classes and the such.

If his payment goes up or down will depend on too many factors, what the other party counter files and asks for changes in also

Also the daycare should have been separate. He should have been getting a bill for it as it is not part of child support. When the daycare stopped then that section of it should have ceased also.

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... My husband and I had a church wedding, but no court house documents...

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You had a church wedding but failed to get a marriage license first? Why? In some states, it's a crime for a minister to perform a marriage without a marriage license first being obtained.

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Originally Posted by ;

... Trying to get some idea of where to go with this before we spend the money to fly out and get a lawyer.. .

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I really hope you are not contemplating flying from California to Alabama for the purpose of finding a lawer. That would be insane. You do know that telephone, e-mail, or letter would be a lot cheaper, right?

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It will be based on his current income, so if he is also now making higher amounts of money, that will be looked at. The ex can also ask for things like 1/2 of non paid medical costs, have child covered under his insurance. 1/2 of things like after school programs, dance or music classes and the such.

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His income has gone up slightly, but not nearly as much as hers has, which is why we hoped it would decrease. All of their medical is covered under military health insurance, and we pay for their dental insurance as well. All after-school programs are free, and he already comes out-of-pocket for uniforms and such, so I don't anticipate that changing anything drastically.

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Also the daycare should have been separate. He should have been getting a bill for it as it is not part of child support. When the daycare stopped then that section of it should have ceased also

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I don't know if it is technically separate or not, but I know the child support agency that he sends the money to is still charging the same amount, and it is supposed to include half of what daycare cost 5 years ago, last time they went to court.

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You had a church wedding but failed to get a marriage license first? Why? In some states, it's a crime for a minister to perform a marriage without a marriage license first being obtained.

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We had a church wedding because that was all that was important to us. A piece of paper means nothing to us, and we haven't had any need for it. It's posed a slight disadvantage to us in the military (we aren't entitled to alternating deployments if not legally married), but nothing terrible enough to really push us to get it.

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I really hope you are not contemplating flying from California to Alabama for the purpose of finding a lawer. That would be insane. You do know that telephone, e-mail, or letter would be a lot cheaper, right?

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Perhaps I misworded that. We intend on finding a lawyer over the phone, but we were under the impression an actual court date would need to take place, which we would have to fly out for.

You can request to appear by telephone, it may not be necessary to appear personally, especially if you have an attorney to represent you in court.

A "piece of paper" may mean nothing to you, but it means a great deal to the legal system.

The mother's increased income may or may not be brought into play. This support calculator Alabama Child Support Calculator - AllLaw.com does ask for the custodial parent's income so it may figure into the calculation.

Income Sources

Child support in Alabama is calculated based on the combined income of both parents. Income includes:


Salaries
Commissions
Bonuses
Pension
Retirements
Gifts
Disability payments
Any and all money due and payable to a person
In Alabama, the court will consider the following factors, prior to awarding child support:

Number of children who are the subject of the child support suit
Amount of support paid for other children
Daycare expenses
Parents' income
Health care expenses
Child Support - Access Alabama Child Support Guidelines