Q: My husbands ex wife sued him for child support about 2 years ago. They have a 14 yr old & a 5 yr old together.
Once the 5 yr old started kindergarten they would take out less from his paycheck, but there still taking the same amount. Both daughters stay with us every other weekend but their mother doesn't give them money, and we know this because the daughters tell us. She was the one in fault because she was the one who had an affair. Are we able to take legal action against her?
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- North Carolina
- (910) 333-9679
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- Answered
A: Generally not a single one of your listed concerns would be grounds to lower child support. You appear to have a very wrong idea about how child support works, so here are some fun facts about child support: Child support is usually set by either agreement or rigid guidelines based on income. Child support amounts typically do not change absent one of the children ageing out at 18 or a significant change in income. Child support goes to the parent not the children and the payor (your husband) has zero control or input over how child support is used by the payee (his ex wife). She could be using the child support to buy drugs from the man she had an affair with and likely there would be nothing you could do about it. The payee has no obligation to give any of the child support directly to the children and child support (unlike alimony) is not fault based, so his ex wife having an affair is also irrelevant. From your question, I assume this all seems exceedingly unfair to you - it isn't. However, if you want to make sure the amount your husband is paying as his share to support his children is the absolute bear minimum possible, just consult with a local family law attorney who can review your husband's situation in more detail and determine if the current amount is correct and if not, whether it can be modified downward. Best of luck.
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