How New Child Support Laws effect Final Orders set previous to date laws go live

[singledad]

My custody dispute was finalized by the courts in late June of 2010. While me and my co-parent were in the process of getting our custody dispute finalized by the courts, she involved the DOR/CSE Agency. We met sperartely with the DOR/CSE judge to establish a temporary order for child support which consequentially ended up being the same amount the Judge in our custody dispute awarded her in the final judgement. My question(s) is three-fold....

1.) I'm a 100% commissioned rep working for the same company I have been working with for over 6 years and my current YTD income is headed towards a total amount which is close to $20,000 off (Net Income) than the amount the CSE used to calcualte the payments in the first place. What reprieve do I have, if any considering the changes in my circumstances and the fact that our final order was given to us by the Judge just in June of this last year? (I have been trying to keep up with the child support payments and recently just found myself 1.5 months behind due to the unaivalable income to me and I don't want to fall in nad standings with the state consdiering that they could suspend my license and pursue other legal actions).

2.) With the new laws going into place on October 1st of this year, how would that effect my CS obligation (over $700/mth) considering that my final judgement was given to us by the Judge in June of 2010 (prior to new laws in effect) and also considerng that my current overnight is a little over 28%....(104 overnights to be approximate). I can't seem to find any supportive material on the internet which would calcualte this new "tier" system probably because it's still so new, but there has to be something out there.

3.) Is this new law automatic and will it be applied to orders that are currently in place or am I eligible considering that our final order was issued prior to the date the law was set in place? If I am eligible, do I have to do something in order to get my child support modified under the new law?

Can you please help shed some light as I am trying to do the right thing, but I feel my hands are tied and don't know what to do considering the limited amount of income I am faced with at the moment and the amount of obligation I have...I don't want to loose my daughter as she is the world to me.

[Attorney Howard Iken]

The new law is not retroactive. But it will apply to any new modification case. If you file for modification right now your lower income will apply to support calculations. Also, because you have more than 20% of the overnights, you should see a reduction based on "substantial time sharing."

We are currently updating our online Calculator for the 20% rule, so please check back.

Attorney Howard Iken

[singledad]

Thanks for the response Howard. Would you suggest that I wait until October 1st to file for this modification or should I do it now?

It is my understanding that any motion for review I submit at this point would best be done directly with the Circuit Courts considering how recent the final order was put in place (June of 2010) by the Circuit judge, is this also true?

What should the reason on my "Request for Review" form be for my request to review/modify child support amount?

Lastly, do you have an idea how long this process will generally take from the moment I submit the motion for review to the time it actually is heard by the courts or even implemented? Any approx. estimates as to how much my support obligation would be with this new calculation (I'd like to make a correction, I actually have 120 overnights or close to 33%)?

Thanks again, I appreciate the insight! I spoke to CSE yesterday in Tallahassee and they weren't even able to help me considering that this is still so new....either that, or they just didn't want to share any insight with me, who knows.

[Attorney Howard Iken]

If you file for modification now, the new law will govern your final hearing.

I cannot answer questions on the request for review. That sounds like an application to the Florida Dept of Revenue and has nothing to do with actual court documents.

On the exact amount ... check back and visit our online child support Calculator in approx 15 days.

[singledad]

Thanks for the insight Howard. I'll be checking back soon.