Ok, my X and I have a 6 month son together. We are currently under temp CO where I exercise my parenting time on Mondays and Wednesdays unspecified time and Saturday and Sunday 4 hours each day. Recently we have been spending time as a family together outside of my parenting time. We had a court day set for tomorrow but my attorney needs to postpone it due to conflicting court appearances. So my X calls me and says her attorney said if I agree to pay her X amount of child support per month they will agree to postpone the date. Obviously this ticked me off. So I called my attorney and it was agreed that I would pay her some money toward child support (since I will be paying from the time I had filed which was in Jan 08). But not agreeing to a specific amount each month. I am disabled and I only work 15 hrs per week and they are requesting I pay as if I worked 40 hrs per week because my parents help me with my bills.Now I would think this is blackmail but my attorney seemed to think we should just do it and it would look good in court and I would owe it anyway. I am taking her the money this evening but since it is in cash I am requesting a receipt and my X thinks I don't need one. I am just trying to cover all my bases and is hoping it will pay off in the end. I am not looking for more than what my son and I am entitled to....time together. So I would like some opinions here. Please.

Do NOT give her cash. Get a cashier's check or money order.

You need to use an online CS calculator for your state to get a rough estimate of what CS will be before you agree to hand over any money.

It's really not up to her atty to agree or disagree with the postponment and to demand money so that he will agree. Your atty will motion the court. Her atty will respond. The odds are, since it is your atty and his conflicting court dates and not YOU requesting the postponment, the court will postpone the hearing.

Do NOT give her cash! My husband went through the same situation and paid an amount that his ex's attorney requested and his attorney told him to do it to also look good with the court but it back fired on him and was a mess! He initially made his payments via money order and still had a fight in the court about the payments, so I'd hate to have you experience the same thing. The courts will look at the amounts you pay as a "gift" and you could still owe, so you need to pay the money directly through MISDU (Michigan State Disbursement Unit). In doing this everything will be tracked, so it will make your case easier. This will cover your butt. I work in the legal system and divorce lawyers (especially ones representing non-custodial parents) just want to have the case completed and they usually don't take into account whats in your best interest. The best advice I can give you is to do your research and don't count on your attorney. Don't agree to anything until researching it first! You will be setting a precedence which could hurt you later!

Additionally, they cannot take more than 60% of your income. If your parents are helping you out, their income or assistance cannot be considered, so don't let her lawyer or your intimidate you making you think otherwise!

It bothers me to see so many fathers getting screw'd for not knowing their rights, so please do your research!

Visit https://www.misdu.com/Secure/Default.aspx?tabid=41

If I can be of further assistance please let me know. Best of luck to you!

. I am disabled and I only work 15 hrs per week and they are requesting I pay as if I worked 40 hrs per week because my parents help me with my bills.Now I would think this is blackmail but my attorney seemed to think we should just do it and it would look good in court and I would owe it anyway. I am taking her the money this evening but since it is in cash I am requesting a receipt and my X thinks I don't need one. I am just trying to cover all my bases and is hoping it will pay off in the end. I am not looking for more than what my son and I am entitled to....time together. So I would like some opinions here. Please.


If you are disabled, are you on SSDI? If so, your son is entitled to a check. It should be about 1/2 of the amount you receive.

If you are going through the process, he will be due an amount about 1/2 of what you will receive in arrears.