The father of my child is 35 years older than me and is now semi-retired. He has no real monthly income. He lives in California and I live in Texas, but now he is about to move to South Carolina. How is the child support calculated when he has no income and we live in different states?

The father of my child is 35 years older than me and is now semi-retired. He has no real monthly income. He lives in California and I live in Texas, but now he is about to move to South Carolina. How is the child support calculated when he has no income and we live in different states?

This is not an area I know much about, but I sure others will be along shortly to provide assistance. I'm wondering though--doesn't he get retirement and/or social security?

He is not officially retired. He is 60 and wont collect on his Social Security for at least 2 more years. He just sold his house in Washington State, where we met and conceived the baby, and is living with his sister in CA. I assume he is living off the money from his savings and house sale. But he quit his job as an independent contractor(carpenter) when he moved to CA. So if the courts have no documentation of a regular income can the court enforce child support from his saved money? Also, will I have to file in CA, or will he be forced to come here to texas for court proceedings?

He is not officially retired. He is 60 and wont collect on his Social Security for at least 2 more years. He just sold his house in Washington State, where we met and conceived the baby, and is living with his sister in CA. I assume he is living off the money from his savings and house sale. But he quit his job as an independent contractor(carpenter) when he moved to CA. So if the courts have no documentation of a regular income can the court enforce child support from his saved money? Also, will I have to file in CA, or will he be forced to come here to texas for court proceedings?

Umm, if he is purposely unemployed, but not actually retired, his income can be imputed based on the amount he is capable of earning. They will use his past tax returns to get the financial information they need to order a child support amount. At the very least, his income can be imputed based on minimum wageX 40 hrs. a week to get a basic amount. If he is recieving retirement benefits, those benefits are fair game for a child support order. ANY type of financial income can be used to calculate child support. As this is an interstate case and an order has not been established, you can file in TX.
www.supportguidelines.com (http://www.supportguidelines.com/)

Thank you for your help! I hope we dont have to use the court system at all. Is it dangerous to set up your own child support arrangement without the help of the court system? He is a good guy, and I think that he would honor a verbal arrangement, but I dont want to get screwed.

Sorry to batter you guys with so many questions, but how do interstate custody arrangements work? If he moves to SC and I am still in TX is the court going to make me pay to send the baby over to SC? I make 5.15 an hour and I couldnt pay for a cross country road trip a couple of times a year. Will I have to pay for all of this?

Thank you for your help! I hope we dont have to use the court system at all. Is it dangerous to set up your own child support arrangement without the help of the court system? He is a good guy, and I think that he would honor a verbal arrangement, but I dont want to get screwed.

Big mistake. A verbal agreement for child support is not binding. I know you are trying to be nice, but what if he suddenly changes his mind. Furthermore, it is for HIS protection to have the child support legally set up, as well. Any monies he gives you for child support without it being court ordered is a gift and does not count as CS.

You and he can come to an agreement for child support together and have that agreement entered as a court order.

Sorry to batter you guys with so many questions, but how do interstate custody arrangements work? If he moves to SC and I am still in TX is the court going to make me pay to send the baby over to SC? I make 5.15 an hour and I couldnt pay for a cross country road trip a couple of times a year. Will I have to pay for all of this?

Child support and child custody/visitation are two seperate issues. Your visitaiton arrangements are independent of child support. Most likely, you and he would be ordered to split the cost of transportation for visitation. This is assuming that a court order for custody/visitation is awarded. If a court never orders custody/visitation, you are under no legal obligation to let him see the child. Note that I said LEGAL obligation. That has nothing to do with your moral obligation. But it sounds like you truly don't want to screw him over, so I doubt that this is a problem for you. You and he can come to an agreement on visitation together and have it submitted to the court to have the judge sign off on it to make it legally binding. If you and he can truly get along well enough to discuss this and work it out, then that is always the best route to take. It doesn't HAVE to be an ugly court battle.

He is not officially retired. He is 60 and wont collect on his Social Security for at least 2 more years. He just sold his house in Washington State, where we met and conceived the baby, and is living with his sister in CA. I assume he is living off the money from his savings and house sale. But he quit his job as an independent contractor(carpenter) when he moved to CA. So if the courts have no documentation of a regular income can the court enforce child support from his saved money? Also, will I have to file in CA, or will he be forced to come here to texas for court proceedings?
Don't worry, as long as he has a child to support he will be expected to earn enough to pay CS no matter what his age. My late fiancee was 62 and had to keep working because he had 2 minor kids with his ex. As a Judge told him one time- retirement is not always an option for a parent of minors, unless thier SS or pension is enough to pay for everything.

so, can I get a court order for child support without having to make him come all the way over here? I would assume that if he is agreeable to the terms of an arrangement drawn up by a lawyer, then he could sign it and we could file it without him having to come over here. But I am assuming, I dont know if this is how things actually work. I would just prefer that we didnt have to take all of this through the court system, because I know how long it can take to get a court date and a ruling and all of that. Help! I dont want to make the wrong assumptions and screw up. :eek:

Most likely, you and he would be ordered to split the cost of transportation for visitation.

Are you serious? This woman makes 5.15 an hour. The father created the distance. It just seems totally unfair to me that she might have to come up the funds to pay for half the travel expenses for him to maintain visitation. But, lots of things seem unfair to me.

EDITED TO ADD:

Oh, wait a minute! After re-reading, it sounds like they met in one state and then both moved to different states. If so, then they both created the distance. Sorry! I was confused :o

Well, I didnt move until after he had left WA. I was having trouble finding a job in my hometown, so I moved in with my sister in Texas. But either way, we would have been separated. I just dont understand how I am supposed to come up with the money to drive my child that far, let alone how to get enough time off of work to make the trip. I am afraid that I may end up in contempt of court because I just cant come up with several hundred dollars two or three times a year. Will a judge take my finances into account or will I have to somehow pay for this?

Well, I didnt move until after he had left WA. I was having trouble finding a job in my hometown, so I moved in with my sister in Texas. But either way, we would have been separated. I just dont understand how I am supposed to come up with the money to drive my child that far, let alone how to get enough time off of work to make the trip. I am afraid that I may end up in contempt of court because I just cant come up with several hundred dollars two or three times a year. Will a judge take my finances into account or will I have to somehow pay for this?

Okay, calm down for a minute. Yes, your finances will be taken into account in determining the best way to facilitate visitation with the father. However, the fact remains that you both still moved away from each other. Had he been the only one to move, you would be on much firmer ground to expect him to pay for visitation expenses.

As I said before, if you think that you and the father can reasonably work this out together, that is your best option. One solution is to take part of the child support and set it aside every month into an account designated specifically for travel expenses for visitation. You can also consider that he comes to TX to visit every once in a while so that you are not always the one taking time away from work to facilitate visitation. There are ways to work it out. You just have to think creatively!

I hope so. I appeciate the advice. It is such a bad situation right now. I want to make sure that my baby gets the best end of this deal.

You can take the father to court for child support. AND that has NOTHING to do with visitation.
That was already said but I don't think the OP understood that.
The child support is a completely seperate issue.

Once the child support is done-legally then you or the father could establish a legal visitation agreement OR work out one between yourselves as long as both parties were agreeable.
If you apply for any state benefits (which based on your pay you would qualify for ), the state will actually set up the child support for you. You won't need a lawyer. (If you live with your sister, you would need a note from her stating that you pay some portion of rent/bills and that your "households" are seperate. Meaning: you don't share food or money.). The state might be able to help you to pay for daycare, give you medical insurance for the baby...etc even if you don't quailfy for foodstamps. You should look into it. The child would also quaify for WIC if it is under 5 years old. (Milk, eggs, cheese, juice, baby formula...).
**Texas is one of the few states that allows for close relatives to get paid by the state for watching thier relatives instead of a daycare. But that family member has to claim that money on thier taxes as wages.