I will try and make this brief...my ex and I have been divorced for 4 years. In order for him to qualify for a new home (so he tells me) I agreed to have him ordered to pay "zero" child support in the divorce decree (he gets them every weekend and 4 weeks in the summer) BUT he promised to give me $200 (a figure he just came up with) a month. This worked for 4 years until recently when he got remarried and decided he needed the $200 for some financial problems they were having and just QUIT paying, stating that the decree said he did not have to pay support. I have filed a case for review of support with the attorney general's office but the wait is about 6 months. Will hiring an attorney get it reviewed quicker? Can the money he has paid in the past 4 years be counted as child support even though he was giving it to me "under the table"? We had a very agreeable divorce but I can't believe I was so stupid to trust him to pay support on his own. I just hope I am taking the correct steps to get it inforced.

Also, can I have visitation changed if the agreed visitation has not been going on for 4 years? Example - I worked Wednesday nights and Friday, Sat and Sun nights for 2 months when my divorce was final. My ex had visitation on these days (Wed night and every weekend) It became too stressful for the children to be picked up by me late at night so I changed my work schedule and he has NOT gotten them Wednesdays anymore and I now pick them up Sunday afternoon instead of late Sunday night. This has been the case for over 3 1/2 years. I realize now I should have had this changed at the time it occurred but can I do so now?

Thank you in advance for any advice you can give me is this most stressful situation.

You had a private support arrangement, so that will count as child support in all likelihood. The court should ask for all parties' financial information to review to set a new support amount. As for the visitation, you and him need to work that out as best you can for the kids.

I too live in Texas. I do know that you have the right to have you case (childsupport) reviewed every three years. The attorney general should tell you this. Getting a lawyer and going back to court, depending on the size of the town you live in, would be faster than waiting on the attorney general ( know this from experience) but all the other, can't really help you with. It has been my experience that once the parents begin remarrying, it reaks havak in the ex/ex relationships as well as the parent/child relationships. These are things that the two of you are going to have to work out for the sake of the child while trying to respect one another's feelins as well as your spouses and childrens. After all it is all about the children.

:) Um.....got to love those "intelligent" words of wisdom....thanks for the advice....and..um....not taking it of course... :p