Posts tagged with "Connecticut Child Support and Alimony laws"

One of the biggest questions in a child custody case is “Who will get custody and visitation rights?” The answer to this crucial question can be complicated. Once settled, things don’t always go smoothly. This article walks you through some common questions concerning visitation and custody interference issues.

My ex has physical custody of our kids. I am always very prompt in sending my support check, but lately, I’ve been feeling that I don’t have enough time with my kids. Is it a good idea to stop paying my child support as a way to force my ex into giving me more visitation?

No, it is not a good idea. In fact, it could backfire and result in you having less or no time with your children. Visitation and child support don’t have anything to do with each other from a legal standpoint, and a judge would probably come down on you hard for withholding your support.

Try having a civil conversation with your ex about having more time with your kids. If that doesn’t work, you can request a modification of the visitation schedule in court.

Joint physical custody is another option if you and your ex don’t live too far apart. Courts will only grant this option if it won’t harm the children and if the parents demonstrate that they can work together.

Our visitation order clearly states that my ex-wife must pick up our daughter at a certain time on a certain day each week, but she is consistently late and sometimes doesn’t bother to show up at all. This is very hard on our daughter, and it often interferes with my life as well. Can I do anything about this?

The first step (as it usually is) is to talk to your ex-wife and get an understanding for the reasons why she’s late or a no-show. If her job or family responsibilities are the cause, you may be able to fix the problem with a few simple schedule changes.

If she doesn’t have a valid reason and you can’t work out a solution, you can ask a judge to enforce or change the visitation order. You should create a list of all the times your wife shows up late or doesn’t show up at all so you have some documentation of the problem. The court will definitely be more interested in how the situation is affecting your daughter than how it is inconveniencing you, so make sure to focus on her rather than on yourself.

I have joint legal custody of my son with my ex-husband. Every time we have to make a decision about our son’s religion, healthcare or education he fights me tooth and nail. I feel that he is just trying to be difficult — do I have to consult him about these things?

Sharing legal custody can present a wide range of problems, especially when the relationship between the former spouses has deteriorated. As tough as it may be, though, you still need to keep your ex-husband in the loop when it comes to these decisions, as you may violate a court order if you keep him in the dark. If your ex challenges your unilateral decision-making in court, a judge could end up awarding him sole legal custody, so it’s better to comply with the terms of the original order until it can be modified.

As always, you should try as hard as you can to work it out amongst yourselves. Try to get inside your ex’s head and figure out why he obstructs these decisions. Perhaps he feels that he doesn’t have enough visitation with your son. If so, a few more visits might resolve the issue.

I have joint legal and physical custody of my children with my ex-wife. She never seems to do anything to help with chores or scheduling, so I end up doing all the laundry, shopping and planning. How can I get her to pull her weight?

First, examine the situation and see if there’s a reason why your ex hasn’t helped out with these responsibilities. She might have personal or work issues that prevent her from doing all that she should. She may not even realize that you feel this way.

Talk to her and ask her to help out. If that doesn’t work, send her a cordial letter via certified mail listing the parental duties and requesting that she take over some of them. If she doesn’t respond or start pitching in within two or three weeks, you may have to go to court to change anything.

Also think about asking a mediator to step in. Impartial mediators can really help a situation like this. Sometimes an outside voice repeating what you’ve already said can get the desired results.

I’ve had sole physical custody of my son for his entire life. His father recently promised him a car if my son comes to live with him. Can I fight this in any way?

Before you try to fight the move, ask yourself if it could actually be a good choice for your son.

If you still object to the switch, it’s within your rights to prevent your son from leaving. If you choose to do so, however, your ex-husband could go to court and ask for a change in the custody order. When children get older, judges will generally give greater weight to their preferences. That doesn’t mean that a judge will rubber-stamp your son’s wish to go live with his father, but it does make it more likely that the judge will allow your son to make his own choice.

Remember not to badmouth your ex based on your personal feelings about him, but if you think that he is a danger to your son in any way you should explain this to both your son and the court.

You could also avoid court altogether by trying to reach a compromise. Increased visitation might satisfy your ex while allowing you to retain custody of your son.

Over spring break, my ex took our kids on a trip, but didn’t tell me where they were going. Is there anything I can do to make sure I know of future vacation plans ahead of time?

That’s a difficult question. Unless your custody and visitation arrangement states otherwise, your ex can take the kids wherever they want as long as the trip doesn’t place the children in any danger. And yet it is probably in the children’s best interest that you know where they are going in case an emergency comes up.

Ask your ex to give you information about any future vacation plans. Explain that you want to know for safety purposes, not to hinder the plans in any way. If he doesn’t provide the information in a few days, send a certified letter that politely repeats your request. You may want to send a copy to your ex’s attorney — a lawyer can usually convince a client to cooperate, if only to help their case should the matter go to court.

If you still don’t receive a response you can file an “order to show cause” demanding that your ex appear in court and list the reasons why he shouldn’t have to disclose the vacation plans to you. It is likely that a judge will order your ex to tell you the plans.

My ex-husband often returns the kids late after his scheduled visitation. I’m worried he may be thinking of not returning them at all one day. Is there anything I can do?

It might be possible to clear everything up by talking to your ex about his tardiness. He might not know that his actions have caused you so much worry.

If your ex does fail to return the kids, his actions break both criminal and civil law, and also violate the custody and visitation orders that you have in place. At this point, the police can step in to recover the children, and they can charge your ex-husband with kidnapping. You can also sue him for damages.

My ex-wife has sole physical custody of our kids, but I have visitation on alternating weekends. She just told me that she plans to take a job across the country, however, which would mean that I could only afford to see my kids every few months. What can I do?

Unfortunately, there isn’t an easy answer for this question. State law controls, and states differ greatly when it comes to relocation issues. Some states protect the non-custodial parent’s right to maintain an ongoing relationship with their children, while other states protect the custodial parent’s right to relocate for employment or family reasons.

Try to reason with your ex-wife by explaining your desire to keep seeing your children regularly and laying out your financial limitations. If this doesn’t work, you should probably consult with your attorney to learn more about the laws in your state.

I have an infant child, and the child’s father has visitation rights every other weekend. He lives in a tiny apartment that isn’t baby-safe and doesn’t have the necessary items, like a crib, stroller or infant tub. Can I prevent the visits?

It’s best to comply with visitation order, lest you anger a judge and risk having to give up some of your custodial rights. You can provide what the baby needs, and you can also firmly suggest that the father purchase the necessary supplies. Unless the visitation order explicitly states that the father must buy certain items, however, he isn’t legally required to do so.

Consider going back to court to modify the visitation order. Judges will usually require parents to have all reasonable items for the care of the baby.

---

If you have any questions about divorce in Connecticut, please contact Joseph Maya at 203-221-3100 or by email at JMaya@mayalaw.com.

In Connecticut, the property and debt issues are typically settled between the parties by a signed Marital Settlement Agreement or the property award is actually order and decreed by the Superior Court within the Decree of Dissolution of Marriage.

Connecticut is referred to as an “equitable distribution” state. When the parties are unable to reach a settlement, the Superior Court will take the following approach to dividing the assets; First, it will go through a discovery process to classify which property and debt is to be considered marital. Next, it will assign a monetary value on the marital assets and debt. Last, it will distribute the marital assets between the two parties in an equitable fashion. Equitable does not mean equal, but rather what is deemed by the Superior Court to be fair.

The following factors are considered by the court in determining the appropriate property distribution award: 1. length of the marriage, 2. the causes for the annulment, dissolution of the marriage or legal separation, 3. the age, 4. health, 5. occupation, 6. amount and sources of income, 7. vocational skills, 8. employability, 9. estate, 10. liabilities and needs of each of the parties and the opportunity of each for future acquisition of capital assets and income. The court shall also consider the contribution of each of the parties in the acquisition, preservation or appreciation in value of their respective estates. (Connecticut General Statutes – Title 46b – Chapter 81).

---

This case was not handled by our firm. However, if you have any questions regarding this case, or any family matter, please contact Joseph Maya at 203-221-3100 or by email at JMaya@mayalaw.com.

Spousal support can be an extremely confusing area of divorce law, and there are many misconceptions about it. Contrary to popular belief, spousal support is not guaranteed to a wife, nor is it an entitlement for being married for a certain period of time. The truth is, no one is guaranteed spousal support regardless of how long they have been married, and spousal support can be paid to wives or husbands.

The purpose behind alimony is to allow a spouse with significantly less income to maintain a lifestyle similar to the one they enjoyed during the marriage. Spousal support is awarded on a case by case basis, and many factors are usually considered when a court decides whether, how much, and for how long alimony should be awarded.

Factors the court may consider include:

• The length of the marriage
• The needs of the spouse requesting alimony
• The ability of the supporting spouse to pay alimony, and
• The relative age, health, education, and work experience of both parties.

A spouse receiving alimony is generally expected to become self-sufficient at some point. However, a supported spouse who was a homemaker for the entirety of a long marriage may not be reasonably expected to become self-sufficient, and in these cases, spouses are sometimes awarded permanent alimony.

Typical situations that will cause spousal support to be terminated include: if the person receiving spousal support remarries, in the event of the death of one of the parties, or when the person receiving the support shares a home with a romantic partner.

It is also possible to modify spousal support payments upward or downward in the case that the income for either spouse is changed.

–

This case was not handled by our firm. However, if you have any questions regarding this case, or any family matter, please contact Joseph Maya at 203-221-3100 or by email at JMaya@mayalaw.com.

If you have any questions or would like to speak to a divorce law attorney about a divorce or family law matter, please don’t hesitate to call our office at (203) 221-3100. We offer free divorce consultation as well as free consultation on all other familial matters. Divorce in CT is difficult, but education is power.

To file for divorce in Connecticut, the person seeking the divorce (the “plaintiff”) files a document called a “complaint” in the superior court for the judicial district where at least one of the spouses lives. The complaint includes information about current living arrangements, the reason for the divorce, and any children of the marriage. In addition to asking that the marriage be terminated, the plaintiff can ask the court to divide marital property and debts, award alimony or child support, determine child custody, and restore a previous name.

When you file for divorce in Connecticut, automatic orders go into effect. Automatic orders are restraining orders that prevent either spouse from taking actions that would drastically affect the couple’s property or children without the other spouse’s consent, such as spending a large amount of money, changing life or medical insurance beneficiaries, mortgaging or selling a home, locking the other spouse out of the home, or taking children out of the state. The court can modify these orders in an appropriate case.

A Connecticut divorce typically takes at least four months. The court sets two dates when a complaint is filed. The first is the “return date,” which is at least four weeks away to give the defendant a chance to answer the complaint, file a cross complaint, or simply enter a “pro se” appearance. The second date is the “case management date,” which is at least 90 days after the return date and is the earliest date a divorce can be finalized. The court takes no action before the case management date so that the spouses have some time to settle issues out of court. Couples with children must also complete a court-approved parenting education program within 60 days of the return date.

–

This case was not handled by our firm. However, if you have any questions regarding this case, or any family matter, please contact Joseph Maya at 203-221-3100 or by email at JMaya@mayalaw.com.

For a free consultation, please do not hesitate to call the experienced family law and divorce attorneys at Maya Murphy, P.C. in Westport, CT at 203-221-3100. We may also be reached for inquiries by email at JMaya@mayalaw.com.

Perhaps one of the more difficult elements of  a divorce, for parting couples, is parting with their home. Real estate and legal experts say a divorcing couple should set aside their acrimony and get on the same page. Here some options for parting couples and their homes, during a divorce:

1. Sell the house:

Selling a home can be the easiest and fastest way to handle what is likely a couple’s biggest financial asset. Before they begin the process, experts say, the couple should plan, with their lawyers, how the sale will proceed. As for when to sell, lawyers say couples need to take tax advantages into account such as the capital gains exemption. They advise clients in some situations, for example, to sell the house before the divorce is final. It can be awkward for agents and buyers to do business with both spouses in the throes of a divorce and therefore the couple should decide in advance who’s going to do what and who will pay for what.

2. One spouse gets the house:

A longer-term arrangement is for one spouse to stay in the home with the children for an agreed-upon period of time, and then sell the house. In this scenario, he or she would need to work out details such as who pays the mortgage while the one spouse lives there and how the profits would be split once the house sells. That can carry a financial risk because nobody knows what the housing market will be when the house sells. Sometimes that can mean selling in a less favorable market.

Another option is for one spouse to buy the other out of the house. Sometimes one spouse will have more of a claim to the home, especially if he or she owned it before the marriage. However, one should keep in mind that if both people in the couple are on the title of the home, the person who is keeping the house needs to qualify for the entire loan on their own.

3. Sharing the house:

More and more couples are rejecting the divorce of their parents’ generation and getting creative, especially when kids are involved. While the divorce rate is steadily dropping, the ways in which people remake their living arrangements after splitting is growing, according to divorce lawyers and real estate agents. Sometimes, that means delaying selling the home for several years so one spouse can live there.

Other times that can even mean the couple shares the house. It’s called nesting, and some people with kids are trying it out in an effort to cause less emotional disruption for the children, and less financial disruption for themselves. Some couples can’t sell because they are upside-down on their mortgage. Nesting can take any form the couple wants. A guest bedroom can be converted for one spouse to sleep in. Or spouses can trade off weeks living in the house. On their “off week,” they can rent an apartment or live with friends or relatives.

Generally, families have a timeline to end this arrangement, because a couple that’s splitting up obviously wouldn’t want to live together indefinitely. Experts say the best way to make that work is to have firm ground rules that everyone agrees on. That includes bigger-picture things such as when the house should go on the market, as well as smaller things such as keeping the house stocked with milk and toilet paper. Other issues can be trickier but still important to work out, like whether a new girlfriend or boyfriend is allowed in the home. This option only works if the couple still gets along quite well.

Credit: WASHINGTON POST

–

This case was not handled by our firm. However, if you have any questions regarding this case, or any family matter, please contact Joseph Maya at 203-221-3100 or by email at JMaya@mayalaw.com.

If you have questions about divorce or alimony in Connecticut, please feel free to call the experienced divorce attorneys at Maya Murphy, P.C. in Westport today at 203-221-3100 or email Joseph C. Maya, Esq. at JMaya@mayalaw.com.