Q: Can my ex raise child support if my income changes every year?
I did a lot of overtime last year so my income was high. My ex informed me that she will be taking me to court to raise child support payments. If the court sees my income from last year, it will be high because I did a lot of overtime. But I cannot know if I will be able to make that much money again this year. I also just had another baby with my girlfriend. I thought having another baby might help to not get child support raised but I am told if I'm not married to my girlfriend, it wont matter if I have a baby or not. Will they still calculate the child support by 17% rule even though my income last year might be significantly higher than what I make this year?
A: under the current child support law, your child support can be raised if your income goes up 15% or more from what you were making when the child support order was issued. You may have a defense if you can show that you will not be able to do overtime or as much overtime this year as you did last year and why. In regard to the new child, you can lower the amount of support available to your ex-wife if you have a child support order for the new child or you have a written agreement as to child support to be paid for the new child and YOU MUST BE PAYING THAT SUPPORT. I strongly suggest you meet with an attorney to discuss all of the facts of your case ASAP.
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