I am a single mother in NJ. I have a daughter who has not seen her father in 3 years by his choice. He's been putting us through so much. When he first left, he took me to court for everything under the sun. Only winning one court case out of 15. Anyway, he's bringing me back to court again for modifications on my child support. His ex-wife took him to court in Nov 2004 for CS of their son who is older than my daughter. She now receives CS from him. Now, he's taking it out on my daughter and trying to reduce her support. It's bad enough that he doesn't even know her or sees her but to reduce it when I'm not giving him any problems or bothering him for anything else. He and his wife earns more than me. Together they make out pretty good. They've had a house built while he tried kicking me and my daughter out of ours. I don't know what his problem is but I just want to take care of my daughter. He blames me for getting pregnant so he takes it out of her. Since he's been with his wife, he did all of this crazy mess to me. He has also another baby momma and didn't do anything to either of them. Can I ask for his wife's income to be included? His wife doesn't have any kids and I think she does a lot of coaching from the side. She's a social worker who thinks she knows everything. I just want to protect what I got and go about my business. I know he's going to go into court lying about his income and forgetting to tell that he's married. That's why I wanted to know if her income can be included. I don't want it to be reduced because it has been a struggle to get bills paid and pay mortgage so far. He wants to make our lives miserable. Please help with some advice.

As far as I know spouses income can not be considered for CS,,,,sorry at least not is TX and many other states too

I am a single mother in NJ. I have a daughter who has not seen her father in 3 years by his choice. He's been putting us through so much. When he first left, he took me to court for everything under the sun. Only winning one court case out of 15. Anyway, he's bringing me back to court again for modifications on my child support. His ex-wife took him to court in Nov 2004 for CS of their son who is older than my daughter. She now receives CS from him. Now, he's taking it out on my daughter and trying to reduce her support. It's bad enough that he doesn't even know her or sees her but to reduce it when I'm not giving him any problems or bothering him for anything else. He and his wife earns more than me. Together they make out pretty good. They've had a house built while he tried kicking me and my daughter out of ours. I don't know what his problem is but I just want to take care of my daughter. He blames me for getting pregnant so he takes it out of her. Since he's been with his wife, he did all of this crazy mess to me. He has also another baby momma and didn't do anything to either of them. Can I ask for his wife's income to be included? His wife doesn't have any kids and I think she does a lot of coaching from the side. She's a social worker who thinks she knows everything. I just want to protect what I got and go about my business. I know he's going to go into court lying about his income and forgetting to tell that he's married. That's why I wanted to know if her income can be included. I don't want it to be reduced because it has been a struggle to get bills paid and pay mortgage so far. He wants to make our lives miserable. Please help with some advice.

The ONLY 2 people who are LEGALLY responsible to support a child, is that child's 2 LEGAL parents. Since the father's wife is NOT a LEGAL PARENT to your child, her income is NOT taken into consideration at all.

IF your state allows for a deduction from income for CS paid for other children, you'll have to find a way to make up for the decrease, because it will most likely be granted. However, the decrease will probably be very small, so it may not be anything to really worry about. It may help you to remember that the other child IS older than your child, so really you can't complain too much about him having to support a child that he had BEFORE the child he had with you. All children are important, and ALL children deserve to be supported by both thier parents.
Xena :)

ditto to what Xena said.

Unfortunately your cs for your daughter will be decreased due to him being ordered to pay cs support for another child (older or younger, it wouldn't matter). But it shouldn't decrease by very much.

No you can't consider his wife's income in figuring child support. She is not responsible for the child at all. The fact that she adds income to his lifestyle has nothing to do with the kids. sorry.

The parents' income should be considered in reaching the amount of child support due, but at times if there is a stay at home parent with no income there may be a request to see the spouse's income to see what benefits the non-working spouse may receive to see what can be used for support.