Curious about child support

[curious1]

Hello,
I'm a new wife to my husband, who had a Michigan divorce finalized last October. We were married in May, and are now expecting a child. His ex-wife, who lived in MI has now moved down to Sarasota, FL with their 11 year old, we also live in FL. I know we can't change the child support agreement until 6 months. We were wondering if his child support might be lower when we change it to FL. His ex still doesn't have a job, but is looking for one, and she has also informed us that she is using financial aid to support herself while she is in school and looking for a job. Does that count towards her income? I also wanted to know if my finances are going to be apart of the child support change here, and does our new child also lower the payments? We are really struggling with the payments he has to make every month, and she is not even using the child care that is part of his payments, which she won't pay back to us. Thank you for your time.

[Attorney Howard Iken]

Financial aid is not income and does not count. But a court may "impute" or in other words, assign that parent an income equal to minimum wage.

A new spouse's income does not count.

A new child will not normally be reason for lower payments.

You should try our online child support Calculator to see how FL support compares to Michigan.

Attorney Howard Iken
The Divorce Center