She has an attorney, and they are attempting to get $4200 in spousal/child support leaving me with around $1800 a month (have 3 kids). They are also trying to make me pay for all her legal fees. Will the judge take into account that I cannot afford my own attorney, nevermind hers? If I prove that $1800 is not sufficient for me to live will they consider lowering the child support? I feel like I'm up against a wall and because she has an attorney I am out of luck.
She has not worked in years but has a degree in social work. She refuses to get a job, can the courts force her to go to work?
You should retain an experienced Family Law Attorney to advise and represent you in the divorce, without delay. Otherwise, you will be out-litigated and unprepared to spar with your wife's attorney. Find or borrow the money from friends, family, a credit union, or your credit card to retain a good lawyer. Your wife managed to retain an attorney. You should do so as well. Ask family and friends for referrals to divorce lawyers they felt did a good job for them.
The amount of child support that is ordered is based on a formula in California. Amongst other factors, the main things considered include your income, her income and the custody timeshare for each of you. The court will look at other circumstances that may affect income and expenses. At this point, it is important that you consult with an attorney to protect yourself. Many times mistakes that are made early in litigation cannot be undone or are very difficult to fix. The investment in solid representation early in a case is critical, especially if you are facing a spouse who has already hired an attorney. I wish you luck.
Maybe you cannot afford to hire an attorney for your case but you should be able to at least afford to have a consultation with an attorney so you can educate yourself on how to represent yourself and how to handle your case. The attorney can run the support numbers and realistically prepare you for the correct amount of support. Make an appointment, pay the consultation fee, and bring your last 3 months pay stubs, last years tax return and you should have a better idea what the appropriate support number is as well as what to expect on many other issues. It will be the best $200-$300 you spend.
In the State of California, Child Support is determined by a mandatory formula that takes into account the respective incomes of each parent, the number of children in the case and the percentage of time that each parent has custody of the children. Spousal Support is somewhat different and the court must take into account each spouse's age, the length of the marriage, the income potential of the spouses, and certain other factors.
The most important issue for you to raise in this case is your wife's income potential. You say that she has a degree. California Family Law now requires each spouse to make a serious effort to become employed in a reasonable period of time. The Judge can decide factor into the support equation the amount of money your wife is capable of earning. (This is know as "imputing income".
The best thing to do is to be as aggressive as possible with your wife's earning capacity in the Court. Judges can even order spouses to apply for jobs and to produce their job applications to the other spouse. This is often very unpopular with the spouse subject to the order. You would be surprised how quickly they find a new job!
I hope this was helpful. Good Luck.
Child support is based on a computer calculation and a judge CANNOT deviate fom the calculation's result. The inputs to the calculation that you MIGHT be able to change are the amount of time you spend with your kids (request mediation of your respective custody timeshares if you haven't already), and her income (try to get court to impute income to her by arguing she can work BUT if you want to have any chance at all you must bring in help wanted ads for jobs wife could be doing. You could also ask for a vocational evaluation but you will probably have to pay for it). An atty can advise you about this.
Spousal support a judge has complete discretion over, though they normally follow guidelines. There are lists of factors a judge can consider when deciding if and how much SS to grant, though a judge can cconsider any other factor as well. An atty can help you present the factors.
Attorney fees a judge has discretion about. But, because of a law, judges normally grant atty fees where one person has low or no income and the other spouse has income, to "even out the playing field" Even though she has an atty the atty fees you are ordered to pay are supposed to help her pay for her atty.
You need to seek an atty NOW and put the cost on a credit card if necesssary.
Thomas Neil, Atty at Law
3224 El Camino Avenue
Sacramento, CA 95821
(916) 4446-4153
