DIRTY DIVORCE TRICKS

During divorce, highly charged emotions are the norm and many spouses behave in a less than favorable manner.  Sometimes they lash out simply because they are hurting and feel angry or betrayed.  Other times their actions are based more on the desire to gain a tactical advantage or even to intimidate their spouse.

Be on the lookout for these five common traps:

1.  The spouse who will likely be paying support will purposely report reduced income, hoping to receive a lower support order.  Typically, child support obligors are W-2 employees with established, consistent incomes by which support guidelines will apply.  However, many income earners receive overtime or commission, creating a widely fluctuating payment schedule.  In addition, the statutory guidelines are adversely affected by numerous deductions and other factors such as:

• A self-employed non-custodial parent
  
• Substantial non-employment derived income
  
• Unreimbursed business expenses
  
• Taxes and health insurance
  
• Special needs or disabled children

The flip-side of this argument is how child support obligors must be assured that their child support is computed accurately.  If required to pay too much because a prior attorney erroneously forgot to include a well-entitled deduction, the result ends-up being an unjust Judicial order.

On the other hand, an improper application of the Child Support Guidelines may create a financial burden on the custodial parent.

Regardless of whether you are paying or receiving child support, the attorneys from The Massachusetts Family Law Group understand each nuance.  We can identify errors, correct miscalculations and structure complex agreements to work for both parents.

Has the previously-entered child support order become outdated due to a substantial change in circumstances?  Has the obligor’s income changed, or has the cost to support the child increased for the custodial parent?  Recognizing unfair or outdated child support orders after your divorce is critical, because specific procedures must be followed in order to modify support and minimize costly arrearages.  This can often be done amicably by an agreement between the parties.  If, however, court intervention is required, you can be confident that we will identify and raise all relevant factors to your benefit.

2. An angry spouse will make idle threats to the other.  The most common include:

• “I’ll quit my job before I pay you that much support.”  Not likely.  This is usually an attempt to bluff you into a lower support amount. Ask your attorney whether you should “call” this bluff.  Document the statement right away.  Write down the date, circumstances and exact words used.  Better yet, if the spouse sends this to you by e-mail or, in a letter, save it for use as evidence.  Judges do not tolerate this kind of bullying and they can find interesting and painful ways to send the offending spouse the message.
  
  
• “It doesn’t make sense for us to be paying two lawyers; it’s just a waste of money that we could otherwise keep.  Let’s just both use mine.” Aside from the obvious conflict of interest here, the spouse making this plea wants to manipulate you and control the process by attempting to set the agenda.  In some cases, an attorney who strategically uses the discovery process may uncover information which would, ultimately, provide more support for you and your children.  Good legal advice and representation may not be inexpensive, but often its value is priceless.
  
  
• “You’ll never see the children again.” Usually an attempt to get you to stay in the relationship.   Massachusetts Judges presume frequent and continuing contact with both parents is a good thing, so this is seldom a legitimate threat.
  
  
• “If the court finds out how you’ve behaved, you’ll never see the children.” Family court Judges aren’t outraged by a lot of things your spouse thinks are outrageous:  your promiscuity as a teenager, a several-years-past drug habit, infidelity, moderate drinking, etc.   These are things which the Judge realizes may not reflect poorly on your parenting qualifications, so he or she will most likely not take them seriously.

3.  If one spouse has moved out of the family home and provides the primary source of income for the family, oftentimes this spouse will refuse to pay any household bills or send any support until he or she is forced to do it by the court.

4.  If there is no support order in place, the obligor spouse will often wait until the latest possible day to pay support money, even if he or she has the money to send.

5.  An angry spouse may petition the court for primary custody of the children even though the parties actually agree to a joint custody or visitation arrangement.

We will represent you vigorously to get the best settlement possible, but we will also make sure you understand when some of your expectations simply aren’t going to fly.  For more information about our services, contact us or call (800) 910-DIVORCE.