The Best Laid Plans; What to do When your Child Support Agreement is Not Working
May 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Circumstances change, especially when it comes to estimating expenses and income when arranging child support. The payments you receive may not be enough to support your child, or you may not be able to afford your payments. If there has been a substantial change in the circumstances of the child or the parent, then the proper response may be a child support modification. For example, Mississippi courts have held that the following events, if unforseen at the time of the last settlement, may warrant a modification.
- The increased financial needs of older children
- Inflation
- An increase in childs physical or psychological healthcare needs
- A change in either parents earning capacity
- Any health issues or special needs of the parents
- Tax liability of the noncustodial payor
Generally an increase in child support payed is supported by an increase in parental income or in the cost of raising the child, including the childs decision to attend college. Decreases in child support payment will be granted for non-voluntary reductions in the payors income, the emancipation of the child, or upon the child chosing to move in with the non-custodial parent. A modification will not be granted on the basis of new debt, remarriage, or the birth of additional children.
If you have any questions about your Mississippi or Memphis child support agreement, or if you have been contacted about a child support modification, please contact the Ferrell Firm. Our Memphis divorce lawyers can help you through the entire child support payment process.
“Gap Year” before College: What can this trend mean for divorcing parents?
April 23, 2008 | 2 Comments
Upon reading an interesting article from MSNBC.com Parenting and Family Section about universities encouraging students to take a “gap year” between graduating high school and starting college, our Memphis Divorce and Family Lawyers wanted some feed back from local parents.
Should your child have a ‘gap year’ before college?
Some students need a break after high school — and some colleges approve
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By Danielle Wood
updated 3:58 p.m. CT, Tues., April. 22, 2008
So what does that mean for divorcing parents in Memphis? As everyone know, the legal obligation to pay child support ends when your child turns 18 or essentially finishes high school. But any parent can agree, they aren’t turning their child loose at 18 either. Co-parenting your child is a relationship that will continue well after your legal obligations have ceased.
In addition to the suggested issues and solutions from the article, here are few more thoughts on the topic:
Have the Money Talk…make sure you, your spouse and your child understand where the money is coming from and making a budget for the year. Your child may not fully understand the legal nature of child support, and you don’t want the embarrassing situation that can arise when they question why no longer are paying/receiving.
Get In First… don’t encourage the year off as a last ditch retaliation. Don’t all your teenager to manipulate your separation as a means to avoid growing up and taking responsibility.
Create a Plan B… if your child does not get into the college of their choice, don’t blame the other parent. Encourage your child to work or go to community college to improve their competitiveness. Remember that even though the legal obligation may cease, your child is still relying on you to emotionally support them.
Put it in Writing… having your child lat out their gap year plans in paper, is not part of your divorce agreement. Be honest with your children, but don’t explain the terms of property division or support agreements that won’t mesh with your child’s planning efforts. You’ll always be your child’s parent.
Tips for Memphis Parents: Be a Gracious Co-Parent
April 15, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Co-parenting can be hard. It’s not always easy to be a gracious primary residential parent, nor is it always easy to be the alternative resident either. Try to let go of the anger that led to the divorce and do your best to help foster the relationship between your child(ren) and your former spouse. The marriage is over, there was probably a lot of hurt, but the children should not be tools for revenge. Be gracious in your role.
1. Be flexible.Your ex only has the kids for short visits. If there is a hiccup in his or her schedule be gracious enough to trade weekends or meet them at a halfway point if they have a long drive. Since child support is tied to visitation days, unless there is more than a 15% change in planned days and actual days, you should just work out small changes.
2. Be proactive. Send report cards and progress reports with kids or in the mail or email. Send a school schedule and let the other parent know when the spelling bee is, and where. Often alternate residential parents feel out of the loop. It can also be difficult for you ex to get information from schools directly if the proper releases aren’t arranged. Don’t rely on your kids to inform the other parent either, it’s not their responsibility.
3. Send circus tickets with the kids. I’m not kidding. Alternative residential parents love their children too, but child support payments can make it difficult to enjoy extras with the kids. This is about the best interest of the children. If your ex has some fun too, then so be it.
4.Consult with your ex before you make plans. Many alternate residential parents show up for their weekends only to find out that the primary residential parent has already accepted an invitation for a birthday party or a sleepover for Junior. Call first. If calling, becomes shouting. Email. It’s only fair. Alternate residential parents want the children to have fun too. They just want some heads up. You’d be surprised how often they would say, ‘yes.’
5. Return phone calls. How is the alternate residential parent supposed to know that the children are in the bathtub or shower? One major complaint of alternate residential parents is that they can never get through to their kids. If the alternate residential parent is calling at the wrong time, have the children call.
6. Use litigation as a last resort. Child support late or less than it should be? Don’t let the first call be to the lawyer. Try to work out a plan to pay the arrearage. If you don’t need the money…shhhh, forget it.
Our Memphis Divorce Lawyers strive to make sure that parents understand the helpfulness of a meaningful Permanent Parenting Plan. Always remember that your child(ren) will grow up and life will change, therefore your parenting plan will always be there. But the parenting plan is not intended to be an 18 year iron static contract, you and your spouse must always keep it in mind, refer to it, and evaluate and amend as necessary. When you sign the parenting plan, you are agreeing to make a good faith effort to resolve non-financial support related parenting issues between yourselves or seeking a neutral third party to assist you. Our Memphis Divorce Lawyers can advise you throughout the process.
Maintaining custody is a privilege that not every one enjoys. It should not be a tool to abuse or take revenge on your former spouse.
Source of post: Dads Divorce and www.cordellcordell.com ©
What is a Parenting Plan?
April 3, 2008 | Leave a Comment
As Memphis divorce lawyers we know that someone facing divorce have many questions, especially when there are children involved. One of the most frequent questions we hear in our Germantown law office is “What is a Parenting Plan?”
A Parenting Plan is way for Memphis parents who are divorcing (or even divorced) to plan for the parenting of their children after a divorce. The Parenting Plan recognizes that it is vitally important that the parent-child relationship remain as close as possible to help ensure the welfare of the child. In most situations, children do best when they receive the emotional and financial support of both parents. Every component of the Parenting Plan is designed to focus on the child’s best interest.
Development of a permanent Parenting Plan for those who are going through both uncontested and contested divorces provides parents with an opportunity to establish a road map for future parenting of the child. If the plan is properly set up and thought out it can can serve as a successful tool in reducing conflict between the divorcing parents. It is vital however that the plan is prepared in thoughtful, rational discussion rather than in heated emotional exchanges. It removes legal jargon and replaces it with common, everyday terms, and sets the framework to develop a family reorganization. The Plan can work to preserve family relationships. It encourages both parents to make their children the number one priority, and to see the need for the children to maintain a close, continuing relationship with each parent. The Parenting Plan enables both parents to remain involved in major decisions including education, religion, and medical care.
The Parenting Plan attempts to move away from the concepts of “custody” and “visitation” to emphasize the concept of “parenting responsibilities.” The overall goal and objective of the Plan is to lessen the hostility and encourage parents to work cooperatively in the best interests of their children. As parents working together, you will make the major decisions including education, religion, and medical care. You will make the decisions on how to resolve future issues as you continue to parent your children.
If you would actually like to see an example of what a parenting plan looks like see our previous post here.
A Dozen Ways Children of Divorce get caught in their Parents’ Conflict : Part 2 : Specially posted for Memphis Parents
March 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment
“Every divorcing parent should make it their top priority to keep their children from getting caught in the middle of the conflict of their divorce.”
The following is the second installment of tips and thoughts are from James Roberts, RSW, a licensed social worker in Missouri and Kansas and family therapist in Kansas. Mr. Roberts practices with Madison Avenue Psychological Services in Kansas City Missouri. See the March 24, 2008 post below for tips 1-4. Source of post: Missouri Divorce & Family Law Blog
5. Sabotaging the Child’s Routine
When parents fail to give a child medication, fail to follow through on discipline imposed by the other parent, or bend rules on bed-time, diet, or curfews out of anger for the other parent, they are involving the child in parental conflicts. conflicted parents frequently take their children to medical professionals without consulting the other parents as a way of acting out unresolved divorce disputes. This practice places parental conflict above the child’s medical well-being.
6. Compensating for the Other Parent’s Failures
One divorced parent may view the other parent as a poor parent for being “too lenient”, “too strict”, “too involved”, or “not involved enough”. Such parents often try to compensate for the other parent’s “failures’ by being the opposite kind of parent. Children in such situations suffer by not having parents who are using a balanced approach to rearing children.
7. Making a Popularity Contest of Parenthood
A parent may try to win the affection of a child out of fear that the child favors the other parent. such parents go overboard to “be nice” or refrain from being firm with their children. Children suffer in these situations by not having the advantage of a parent who is acting in the proper role of authority figure.
8. Being an Accomplice to Whining
A parent may allow a child to complain about the other parents without helping the child see a more balanced view of the other parent. If the parents either passively accepts the complaint or fails to urge the children to take up these grievances with the other parent they subtly encourage children to use indirect communication as a way of managing conflict.
9. Child Abuse Allegations
It is becoming common for conflicting parents to express their hostilities by making unfounded allegations of child abuse. For children the consequences of these allegations are negative and far-reaching. Children are drawn into evaluations, investigations, and court testimony which greatly increase the risk of prolonged confusion, hurt, and anger.
The remaining 4 tips will appear in a future post
A Dozen Ways Children of Divorce get caught in their Parents’ Conflict : Part 1 : Specially posted for Memphis Parents
March 24, 2008 | Leave a Comment
“Every divorcing parent should make it their top priority to keep their children from getting caught in the middle of the conflict of their divorce.”
The following tips and thoughts are from James Roberts, RSW, a licensed social worker in Missouri and Kansas and family therapist in Kansas. Mr. Roberts practices with Madison Avenue Psychological Services in Kansas City Missouri. Source of post : Missouri Divorce & Family Law Blog
1. Bad Mouthing
One of the most hurtful things a divorce parent can do to a child is to criticize the child’s other parent in the child’s presence. Statements such as “Your father caused our divorce”, or “if it weren’t for your mother, we’d still be a family,” are common examples of “bad-mouthing”
2. Forcing a Child To Choose
It is harmful to pressure a child to “take sides” in a dispute between the divorced parents. Children have a right to their own thoughts and feelings about the divorce and deserve to know they will be loved by both parents regardless of the opinions and feelings they have. If parents are in conflict over custody and children are facing a decision about which home to live in outside professionals should be called upon for help.
3. Spying
A parent who asks a child questions about the other parent’s personal life is asking that child to become involved in the parents’ conflicts. Children in this situation may end up feeling they have betrayed a parent they love.
4. Making the Child the Messenger
Parents make their children do a parent’s job when they ask their children to carry messages to the other parent. Children learn indirect ways to communicate when asked to be messengers and may feel guilt over having to assume adult responsibilities for their parents’ communication
The remainder of James Robert’s list will be posted to this blog in two future articles. As Memphis Divorce Lawyers we take the time to research and repost helpful information from around the country and the world for our local clients.
Memphis Family Members Provide Child Care
March 12, 2008 | Leave a Comment
“Grandparents serve as the primary caregivers for about 20 percent of the 11.3 million preschool children with employed mothers, according to data released Thursday by the Census Bureau.
Fathers provide slightly less child care than grandparents, the bureau found. About a quarter of the children under 5 spend most of their time in an organized program like a nursery school, day care or Head Start while their mothers worked.
Whether the mother works or not, relatives regularly provide some regular child care to almost half of the nation’s 19 million preschool children.”
by Tamar Lewin, N.Y. Times Link to Article
Source of post : Family Law Prof Blog
Grandparents’ rights in Memphis, Tennessee
March 10, 2008 | Leave a Comment
In Memphis, divorce is all too common, many parents choose not to get married, and many children are being raised by a single parent. These are just some of the reasons why in Memphis, and Tennessee as a whole, grandparents’ rights issues seem to be appearing more and more these days. “Grandparents’ rights” is the term used when one or both grandparents are trying to visit their grandchildren or even seeking custody of their grandchildren. Grandparents may be worried about the grandchildren’s health, well-being, or whether the kids are suffering abuse or neglect. Perhaps the kids are not being taken to school on a consistent basis. Maybe the grandparents are just not being allowed to visit their grandkids. Whether you, as grandparents, have the legal right to get involved in the situation will depend on many factors. If you believe your grandchildren may be suffering some type of harm or you have been wrongly prevented from visiting your grandchildren, call the Ferrell Law Firm in Memphis. We can discuss how Tennessee law applies to your situation and make sure the best interests of your grandchildren are being protected.
Law Related Education for Memphis Families
March 5, 2008 | Leave a Comment
The South Carolina Bar’s Law Related Education Division has launched LawForKids.org, America’s first stand alone web site dedicated to teaching children about the law. The Site was made possible by collaboration with the Arizona Foundation for Legal Services and Education and an IOLTA grant from the SC Bar. The specific goal of this site is educating children, their parents, communities, and schools to increase their knowledge about youth laws and to encourage law-abiding behavior. You can visit the site by clicking HERE.
Source: South Carolina Family Law Blog
Tax Time in Tennessee
February 22, 2008 | 1 Comment
Child Support and Taxes
What you need to know about your taxes if you pay or receive child support.
For federal income tax purposes, child support is tax-free to the recipient, meaning neither the ex-spouse nor the child owes taxes on it. However, child support payments are not tax-deductible by the parent who makes the payments — unlike spousal support payments. (Spousal support is tax-deductible for the person who makes the payments and taxable to the recipient.)
Be careful how support is characterized in your marital settlement agreement, as it may have significant tax consequences.
What Qualifies as Child Support?
In order to qualify as child support, the payments received by an ex-spouse must be designated as child support in the divorce or separation agreement. If the agreement lumps the payments together as “family support” or “alimony,” or doesn’t otherwise designate a specific portion of each payment as child support, none of the payment will be considered child support for tax purposes.
This can have adverse tax consequences for the recipient of child support payments, because family support or alimony is taxable to the recipient. So instead of receiving nontaxable child support, the ex-spouse will be receiving alimony, which is taxable to the payee, regardless of what the payee actually uses the money for.
Who Gets to Claim a Child as a Dependent?
Generally, in order for someone to claim a child as a dependent, he or she must provide at least 50% of the child’s support during the tax year. For couples who are still married and living together, claiming kids as dependents is usually a slam-dunk.
Things get complicated, however, when parents divorce or separate. Now, only one of you can claim the dependent exemption. (The IRS will come down hard if both of you try to claim it; they cross-reference dependents’ Social Security numbers to make sure taxpayers aren’t doing this.)
Special Rule for Parents Living Apart
If the parents lived apart at all times during the last six months of the calendar year, or if they have a written divorce decree, maintenance agreement, or separation agreement, there is a special rule that applies.
In this case, if the child received more than half of his or her total support for the year from one or both parents and was in the custody of one or both parents during the year, the IRS rules assume that the custodial parent (defined as the parent who has custody of the child for the greater part of the year) should get the exemption for the dependent. However, the parties may change this presumption and allocate the exemption to the noncustodial parent if either of the following are true:
- The divorce decree or separation agreement contains a provision in which the custodial parent waives the right to claim the dependent exemption. (The rules are slightly different if the agreement was entered into prior to 1985; the noncustodial parent must also provide at least $600 of support to receive the exemption.)
- The custodial parent signs a declaration (using IRS Form 8332) relinquishing his or her right to claim the dependent exemption, and the noncustodial parent attaches this declaration to his or her tax return. Using this form, the custodial parent can relinquish the exemption for one year, a number of years, or forever, depending on what the parties agree to.
- If you relinquish the exemption, you are also relinquishing eligibility for the child tax credit.
The IRS is very picky about Form 8332, and can (and often does) disallow the dependent exemption for the noncustodial parent if this form isn’t signed and attached to the tax return, even if the divorce decree or separation agreement allocates the exemption to the noncustodial parent. That means it’s very important for the noncustodial parent to attach a copy of this declaration to his or her return in every tax year in which he or she claims the exemption.
If the custodial parent refuses to sign Form 8332, the noncustodial parent can attach part of the divorce decree or separation agreement (the cover page, the page that discusses the exemption and the signature page) to his or her tax return to prove that he or she is entitled to the exemption. However, the IRS will accept this only if the decree or agreement doesn’t require that certain conditions be met before the noncustodial parent can claim the exemption. If there are conditions, the noncustodial parent must use Form 8332 or not get the exemption.
Rule for Unmarried Parents or Those Still Living Together
If the parents are not married, did not live apart during the last six months of the calendar year, or do not have a written document, the test for determining which parent can claim the child as a dependent is that the parent who provides more than 50% of a child’s support during the tax year can claim the child as a dependent.
Rules for Parents Who Contribute Equal Amounts of Support
If neither parent provides more than half of the child’s support for the year, things get even more complicated. For more information on how to handle this situation, see IRS Publication 504, Divorced or Separated Individuals, which you can download for free from www.irs.gov.
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