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does anyone know if u hire a lawyer (in California) to lower C.S do you pay them regardless of winning or loosing case?

prettyinpink's picture

Dh has been paying a ridiculous amount of $ for his C.S.. I think its about time we consult a lawyer and see if we have a case, but I've been calling around and so far all offices say they 1charge for consultation and 2you need to give pay wether they win or not.. obviously we dnt want to risk it by hiring a lawyer who will probably not do his/her job right cause they'll still get pd..any advice???

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NancyL's picture

The attorneys will ask you for a retainer fee upfront and you need to decide before you take it to court if you can win and what the grounds are. Run the numbers for your state and see where you stand. Your attorney should be able to tell you if its winnable.

Auteur's picture

In most states in the U.S. the NCP biodad hiring a lawyer to lower CS has to pay no matter what. It's a gamble. I know here in NYS, odds are they'll find SOME way to make it HIGHER b/c cash strapped states receive matching funds for every CS dollar they collect. Even if they are scalping biodad. That's not their concern.

To give you some idea, GG (biodad I've been with for eight years now) earns $15 an hour and yet pays $1000 a month in CS. There is NO self support reserve and frankly, GG couldn't live on the money left over after CS and taxes.

And this is the lowest it's ever been. Right now he's paying additional add on CS for childcare expenses that the BM hasn't used in over two years, but he's afraid to go to get it lowered and rightly so. The BM has a track record of dredging up old lame receipts and trying to make the CS ever higher; and she's usually successful.

It's not fair but, once again, until the courts abandon the "Old Girl System" (aka militantly pro BM) then nothing will change.

CS will be exorbitantly high due to the states sucking off fed dollars

PAS will continue to be overlooked by the authorities and given a nod and a wink.

mcnat's picture

your DH makes roughly $2400 a month (did the calculations based on the hourly wage) and has to pay 1k in child support!?! That's insane! How many kids are involved? What state are ya'll in? Is this court ordered? There is no way he should have to be paying almost 50% of his GROSS income in child support! if you go to http://allaw.com/ you can use their child support calculator to figure out about how much you should be paying.

moongirl1701's picture

we did it ourselves 3 mos ago, we live in oklahoma. Research online child support calculators to see how much you should actually be paying. You will need to know aprox the ex's income. In Oklahoma its based off of the two incomes of the parents and the amount of time each parents keeps the child over night, it may be diff. guidelines in CA. I believe you can print the forms off of the DHS website. It's not that complicated, it was just a small filing fee.
I will look up the names of the forms and get back to you.

prettyinpink's picture

omg!!! NOOO we need help asap! Im sure their is something we can do to lower c.s...I pray their is.. but omg my husband gets more than $15 n he pays a bit less so oh God I feel terrible for u guys! I HATE GOLD DIGGIN BBY MOMMAS!!!

prettyinpink's picture

moongirl... yes please let me know asap.. I looked up the c.s calculator for Ca, but I think I would feel safer if an attorney or someone like a facilitator can fill it out just to b on the safe side..

Auteur's picture

Sorry I don't have much help for you but if you live in the following "BM hits the Lottery" states, then you're pretty much screwed. Once a high amount is established, it's considered a precedent by the courts so even if DH's income drops dramatically, they still expect you to pay the same CS amount.

And here are those states:

CA (sorry)
MA
NJ
NY

Auteur's picture

Oh and another thing. . .if you live in one of the aforementioned states, NEVER go to family court W/O an attorney. I dont' care how good you are at pro se.

I have a legal background and was told by many cohorts that an NCP biodad who goes to court pro se (in CA, MA, NJ or NY) doesn't stand a snowball's chance in hell. And that's true. All Judges in these states generally are anti-dad.

Pro se may play in the other 46 states but not in the "BM hits the lottery" states.

moongirl1701's picture

We filed a Motion to modify (that we typed up ourselves), and an affidavit of service (this just shows you served her a copy, so she knows to come to court)
We printed them off the DHS website. It had step by step instructions, and told you what to bring to court, tax returns, pay stubs etc.
Unless its different in CA, child support is based soley on figures.
You could contact legal aid in California for advice.
That's free legal services.
I don't see how you can be ordered to pay a different amount than what is calculated on your states child support calculator.
Good luck to you!

prettyinpink's picture

Auteur are u serious? omg so then what to do? just sit back while gold diggin bby momma steals our $? and my dh makes @$3500 and pays @$800 gets the kid every other week.. is that ok?

prettyinpink's picture

moongirl thank u.. and one question.. when she took him to court for c.s she never served him with papers there for he was not prepared and i think that might of screwed us.. what do u think can we do anything @it?

moongirl1701's picture

I honesty think its going to be based on your two incomes and the time he keeps his child, other things factor in like child care and insurance, but all that should be in the child support guidelines or calculator for your state.
We didn't have any problems lowering ours but we live in Okla. Both parties showed up without attorneys and the judge looked at all the figures and changed it.
I would call legal aid just to see if they could give you any advice.
I was super nervous about it, but it ended up not being a very big deal.
My husb has joint visitation 50/50 and she didn't deny it or anything.

prettyinpink's picture

Echo I know I have to pay, what Im saying is that i dnt want to go through all this and at the end of the day it bites us in the butt because my lawyer can care less since he/she will still get paid for their services...

btw does anyone know approx. how much a lawyer charges to lower c.s???