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Good news on the lawyer front

CBCharlotte's picture

We fired our old lawyer and hired a new one! We paid our old lawyer a retainer of $3,000 and are getting $2,400 back, which isn't too bad.

The new lawyer seems really good. She is ON TOP of everything! What took old lawyer 4 months to do she did in 2 days. She seems very optimistic about us getting child support lowered, as well as a few other of our asks.

For background, DH signed a RIDICULOUS divorce decree with BM2 because he had guiltydad syndrome and didn't have a lawyer. They were only married less than 2 years. He has to pay $2,900 a month for 2 kids (one of which isn't biologically his, long story), 50% of all healthcare including providing the coverage, put $50,000 per kid in a college fund by the time they are 18, and she gets to claim them both on taxes. In addition, they live in Texas and we live in Philadelphia, so he spends about $1,000 a month flying there, rental car, hotel, etc for visitation. We get extended visits with us over the holidays and Christmas.

DH got laid off from his mid-high 6 figure job. It's been 12 months now and nothing on the horizon. His severance ended in September so we've just been eating away his savings on child support. I moved all the kids on to my insurance and pay the insurance expenses.

We want the following:
1) Child support drastically lowered
2) Each of us claim 1 kid on taxes
3) College fund lowered from $50k to $25k, and we can contribute more at our discretion

DH is having a call with the lawyer next week to go over everything before they file. She is pulling together some last minute paperwork and reviewing it all. She seems awesome!

Comments

Teas83's picture

If I remember correctly, your husband was still paying CS based on the amount of savings he had rather than on his current income, right? That seemed ludicrous to me.

I'm glad you found a lawyer who wants to get things done. I hope you're able to get everything you want now. Good luck!

CBCharlotte's picture

That's right. New lawyer said that because he's been unemployed for so long, that calculation would no longer apply. They would look at his future potential earnings. Since he has not been able to find a comparable job and has nothing on the horizon, we expect them to be lower.

CBCharlotte's picture

He's a big idiot and signed the birth certificate. He was abandoned by his dad as a child and has a lot of issues with that. When his GF of a month found out she was 3 months pregnant, he immediately said he would step up and be the father. HOW STUPID!!!!!!!! I do love SS6 as if he were DHs, it just pisses me off

CBCharlotte's picture

Yes, I agree. Thankfully, nothing was filed or disclosed to the court officially. DH was filling out all the paperwork and gave it to the first lawyer, and I don't believe anything was ever filed. The numbers from 8 months ago have drastically changed as our savings have been depleted by over $26,000 of child support

CBCharlotte's picture

Thankfully in TX, 0%! My income (and income of BM's new husband) do not factor into calculations at all. If that were the case, we would not have married. I do very well and don't intend to give my money to another woman. I help out with kid stuff (pay for clothes, meals, etc when they are here) and also pay for insurance and medical expenses. That is more than enough for me Smile

CBCharlotte's picture

None, DH and I have separate bank accounts/finances. He owned the house before we moved in together/were married. I paid a little towards it when I was living there but not enough that it would truly alter the value.