Charlotte Divorce Attorney Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “What children’s expenses are covered by child support?”
If you have children and are facing a divorce, you likely want to understand more about the child support system and how it works in North Carolina. Given that many people only go through a divorce once, this will likely be your first rodeo and, as a result, you may have a lot of questions. To better understand child support and how it works in North Carolina, keep reading.
Charlotte Divorce Attorney Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question ” Are overtime, bonuses, and commissions included in calculating child support?”
Everyone knows that income plays a role in divorce. It can impact not only child support obligations, but also spousal support and, in some circumstances, equitable division of assets. What is interesting is that income includes more than just what you earn from working. Income can be from investments, income can be from bonuses and income can also be imputed. Imputation occurs when a court decides that a person should be given credit for earning a certain income, even if it isn’t really being earned.
Charlotte Divorce Attorney Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “What children’s expenses are not covered by child support?”
If your former spouse stops paying court ordered child support it can create a lot of problems. You may depend on that money to pay bills and suddenly having that stream of money disappear can leave you scrambling. Thankfully, you have ways to extract the money owed from your spouse. There are many ways of doing this, but a common one is to pursue a wage garnishment. To find out more about how wage garnishment works in North Carolina, keep reading.
Board Certified Family Law Specialist Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “What children’s expenses are not covered by child support?”
A Duke University researcher who set out to test whether the adage that unmarried parents are most receptive to the idea of getting married in the “magic moment” right after a child’s birth was true found out the post-birth magic lasts longer than a moment.
Board Certified Family Law Specialist Matt Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “How is the amount of child support decided in North Carolina?”
Nick Olivas said he was a lonely, 14-year-old kid going through a rough patch when his 20-year-old neighbor raped him. He said he didn’t know at the time that under Arizona law, a child under 15 could consent to sex, making him a victim of statutory rape. He didn’t press charges against the woman, but now the State of Arizona is after Olivas to pay child support for the daughter he fathered with the woman.
Olivas said he and the woman went their separate ways. He graduated high school, attended college and became a Phoenix-based medical assistant. He said he was living his life and enjoying being young when, two years ago, he was served with papers demanding child-support payments for a six-year-old daughter.
Arizona—like Kansas and California—considers the circumstances of the daughter’s conception irrelevant for child-support purposes, said Mel Felt, director of the New York-based advocacy group the National Center for Men. In 1993, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled that a 13-year-old boy who impregnated his 17-year-old babysitter was liable for child support, even though he had been legally unable to consent to sex. A California state court issued a similar ruling involving a 15-year-old boy whose 34-year-old neighbor was convicted of raping him.
Board Certified Family Law Specialist Matt Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “What rules are there for Father’s Right in NC?”
A Canadian man may have thought his girlfriend’s made-up tale about her quintuplet pregnancy was the ultimate gold-digger’s tale, but that was before he was one-upped by a Chengdu, China-based panda named Ai Hin.
A “gold digger” is defined informally as “a woman who associates with or marries a man chiefly for material gain.” To be fairer than Jamie Foxx and Kanye West were in their 2005 hit single, “Gold Digger,” men are just as capable of engaging in gold-digging conduct. Since most men cannot become pregnant (yes, men are carrying babies to term), the pretending-you-are-pregnant-to-ensnare-the-mate phenomenon has been a strategy traditionally employed by members of the fairer sex. While not by any means the first to document the phenomenon, Daniel Defoe’s harrowing 1722 account of the life of Moll Flanders is instructive.
The lady Flanders was, in the end, a sympathetic figure. She did what she had to do to survive in a sexist and paternalistic culture. History may not be as kind to the contemporary Canadian Paul Servat’s girlfriend.
According to the Toronto Sun, Servat was tricked in a fake-pregnancy scheme by his girlfriend, who told him she was carrying quintuplets. The girlfriend’s stomach swelled, she began lactating, and the couple accepted donations from neighbors and friends. A mother of triplets who befriended the couple told CTV news that the girlfriend’s story didn’t add up. She said the girlfriend kept adding to the number of expected children.
Attorney Matthew R. Arnold answering the question: “What children’s expenses are not covered by child support?”
Several New Jersey courts have been contending with tricky issues surrounding divorced couples and continuing child support obligations. In one recent case, a family court judge from Morris County made national headlines when he refused to require a couple to pay for private school and college tuition for their 18-year-old daughter who had moved out of their home and now wanted financial support.
In a more recent case, a New Jersey appellate court ruled that a divorced dad was required to give his daughter more than $112,000 to pay for half of her $225,000 tab to attend Cornell Law School. Though most states do not require parents to continue supporting children past the age of 18 or graduation for high school, whichever occurs last, the judges in this case had no problem enforcing the payments on the father.
According to the panel of judges, the requirement to pay for law school would not apply in most New Jersey divorce cases, but does in this one because the parties specifically included such a clause in their divorce agreement. The judges pointed out that the father had negotiated the language of the settlement and was perfectly clear what his obligation would be.
Though parents may not have to provide this kind of support for their adult children, if they sign a contract agreeing to do so they cannot then expect to get out of it. The provision said that after the couple’s 2009 divorce, each would agree to pay half the cost of their daughter’s law school, assuming she maintained at least a “C” average.
Attorney Matthew R. Arnold answering the question: “How is the amount of child support decided in North Carolina?”
Marc Anthony is in the middle of fighting a bitter child support case against his ex-wife and former Miss Universe contestant Dayanara Torres. Torres claims that Anthony should be paying far more each month than he currently is due to a huge boom in the Latin singer’s income.
According to court papers, Torres says that Anthony is currently paying her $13,000 per month in child support. However, she says that recent financial disclosures by Anthony reveal that this is far less than he ought to be paying given his increased earning power since their divorce was negotiated back in 2004.
As part of the child support fight, Anthony was required to fill out new paperwork regarding his income and assets and it shows that he is doing quite well for himself. Anthony claims to earn a total of $1.25 million per month and says that he is worth $20.8 million. Anthony credits income from record sales, concert tours and his clothing line at Kohl’s for the financial success.
Torres argues that because Anthony is now making much more than he was when they initially divorced, her children should benefit in the form of increased child support payments. Torres wants the support to increase dramatically, from $13,000 to $112,000 per month. Anthony balks at the figure, saying that he pays Torres more than enough money to comfortably provide for the children.
Attorney Matthew R. Arnold answering the question: “When do you get alimony?”
A recent report on TMZ.com discussed the divorce documents filed by MSNBC morning anchor Joe Scarborough and his ex-wife Susan Waren. The documents reveal that host of the popular “Morning Joe” program pulls in a massive $99,038 per week.
According to news reports, Joe’s attorneys managed to draft a divorce settlement that will allow him to hold onto the vast majority of his substantial salary. Scarborough quietly filed for divorce from his wife of 12 years back in September of last year. The two were able to work out a custody agreement for their two children, a 10-year-old and a five-year old. According to court records, the two will share joint legal custody of the kids and will both continue living together in the same Connecticut mansion for the foreseeable future.
The unusual arrangement means that Scarborough will not pay any child support to his ex. In terms of alimony, Waren will walk away with a relatively small amount of money. The agreement stipulates that Scarborough give his ex $30,000 per month for the next five years, then $25,000 per month for two more years. Scarborough also agreed to pay his ex a lump sum settlement of $150,000 and has agreed to continue making payments on the couple’s Connecticut home and to pay for private schooling for both children.
Rumors circulated that the split may have been due to infidelity on Scarborough’s part, something that his attorney was eager to definitively put to rest. As a result, Waren included a clause in the agreement acknowledging that Scarborough was “faithful, devoted and committed” during the length of the marriage.
Attorney Matthew R. Arnold answering the question: “How is the amount of child support decided in North Carolina?”
The rapper known as DMX has found himself in hot water recently, facing criminal charges for possible drunk driving on top of a recent bankruptcy filing. Just this past week DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, filed for bankruptcy protection at a court in Manhattan. The bankruptcy filing came only four days after his arrest in rural South Carolina on suspicion of driving under the influence.
The Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by DMX lists a wide array of debts and only a few assets. The court documents claim that DMX has assets of less than $50,000 and liabilities of somewhere between $1 million and $10 million. The rapper said that he needs the Chapter 11 to enable him to reorganize his financial affairs.
DMX, who is originally from New York but currently resides in South Carolina, acknowledged in his bankruptcy filing that among his many debts is the $1.24 million he owes in back child support. Beyond the whopping child support arrearages, DMX says he owes more than $21,000 on a car lease and his only real asset is his half share in some property located in upstate New York.
DMX’s spokesperson recently released a statement explaining that his financial issues have been responsible for his lack of career success in recent years. The recording artist known for a number of late 1990s hits hasn’t had much chart success in recent years, something his spokesperson says is due his poor prior representation. DMX says he wants to tour oversees to earn more money and pay his debts, but needs the Chapter 11 to help accomplish that goal. The reason is somewhat convoluted and relates to his child support debt.
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