Q: Basically want to know if this is worth going to court for ?
I’m a step father of two wonderful boys , I don’t get into my wife child support issues , she’s had a few but Ive always stayed out of it . I do know she get 1k a month in support and he pays for the children health insurance here in NC. He claims one and she claims the other and both live with her 11,7 years old . I’m ferocious because today because he showed up in a 72k truck . Now I’m ferocious because this man has never bought the kids a pair of sneakers , clothes you name it . He literally won’t give Christmas presents because he claim he doesn’t believe in them. He will take them on a family vacation for a week. Now I make 50k and my wife makes 30k . I keep a separate account for vacations we go on and vacations we take. I work hard, so very hard and I’m tired of feeling like he does nothing for them. Is it worth going to court for ? Btw I’ve never seen and don’t ever want to see child support money . I DONT care for it but I’m tired of feeling I’m doing most of the support
A: You as a step-father essentially have no standing or say regarding whether to go to court. All you can really do is express your opinion to your spouse about what decision she should make. That said, the amount of child support owed is calculated on simple child support guidelines based on your spouse's income and the father's income. If you believe he is making more income that would result in a higher child support amount, it may be worthwhile for your spouse to consult with a local family law attorney to look into it. However, based on your description there really doesn't seem to be anything for you to be, and I assume you meant to say 'furious', about. It appears the father is paying the $1000 in child support per month, so it is you spouses responsibility to use that money to buy sneakers and Christmas presents - the father has no other legal or even moral obligation than to pay the proper child support amount and not a penny more. The fact that he has a 72 thousand dollar truck is irrelevant and frankly none of your business except that it may possibly indicate his income is such that he may own more than the $1000 per month. If you are tired of feeling like you are doing most of the support, then either simply choose to stop feeling that way and / or simply don't support the children with your money - allow your spouse to do it with the child support. The bottomline is you chose to marry a woman with children and are now obligated to deal with all that entails. Best of luck.
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