So, here goes...

Currently I have a child support agreement with my ex that is nearly five years old. He has paid the same amount (which is modest, to say the least) for the last five years.

Recently, I ran across an article in the Wall Street Journal profiling him and his company. The article listed his companies earnings as "10 million dollars in projected sales for 2007". This same reporter also profiled him in another article (a completely different subject) that included the following information: "company revenue of ATLEAST 1 million dollars is required for membership". In both of these articles he was listed by name and one included a photo.

This is the problem: I would like an upward modification of our current child support agreement but my ex keeps claiming a personal income of only $56,000. He is the Owner/CEO & President of this company. No partners. I know that he is lying. But our current child support agreement has a stipulation that I can't seek an upward modification unless his personal earnings exceed $85,000.

I'm concerned that if I go back to court with nothing but these two articles in my hand, that the judge will laugh me out of the room. Can someone please offer a suggestion/some advice. This matter is being handled in a court in New York state.

Thank you!

You really need to hire a lawyer who can research his income. Make sure he hires a Certified Financial Analysist (CFA) who can audit his business records.

It depends on how he keeps his bookeeping. He could pay himself $56,000 a year, report it to the IRS, and rake in the benefits through his company. You would be somewhat stuck with the amount he claimed on his taxes unless you hire a CFA to do some detective work.

The articles would give the CFA some very good leads.

quote:

But our current child support agreement has a stipulation that I can't seek an upward modification unless his personal earnings exceed $85,000.

Is that NV law?? or did you add a clause to the decree to state such?

That's another good question to ask a lawyer because that may not be allowed in your state..... I think most states allow you to modify about every 3 years if there is a change around 20%.

$56k to $85k is more than a 30% increase

A couple thoughts.....
His company could have that sort of sales, but income/profit from those sales could be entirely different. A company could sell $1mil in product but it also could take $950k in operating costs.
Yes I know....unlikely.

Here's my other thought. As a corporation with him holding all offices, it is mandatory that he pay himself a salary....that $56k perhaps? At the end of the year, the corporation could be the one making all the profit. Depending on the type of corporation, LLC, S, or C could be reflected differently in his individual taxes/income.....either his corp is paying taxes on the profit income and then what's left goes to shareholders(C corp) or the profit income could be passed down to the shareholders (him in an S corp/possibly LLC depending on how it was setup) Does he have shareholders that receive part of the profits (yes that's different than him holding all offices) or does he own 100% of the corp stock. Either way is really income to him, even if he chooses to reinvest all profits into the corporation.
Just throwing out a bit of info that might help you determine what his true income is. I just can't help but think from reading this post that he is paying himself a salary, reported on a w2 as required, and using that w2 alone for reporting income instead of full tax return documentation.
Try a free consultation with a local attorney and run that by him/her and see what you come up with.

quote:

Originally posted by Tessmit:

quote:

But our current child support agreement has a stipulation that I can't seek an upward modification unless his personal earnings exceed $85,000.

Is that NV law?? or did you add a clause to the decree to state such?

That's another good question to ask a lawyer because that may not be allowed in your state..... I think most states allow you to modify about every 3 years if there is a change around 20%.

$56k to $85k is more than a 30% increase

Tess has a good point, find out what your state's particulars are....but many states even allow filing for modification every 2 years, and earlier if there is a substantial change in income....25%

Wow...thanks for responding so quickly!!! You guys are all over it!~

First, one of the WSJ articles claimed that his membership in a "business owners support group" required that his company have REVENUE of ATLEAST 1 million dollars. So...yes...although the company may have sales of 10 million that doesn't necessarily translate into profit. But I know from that article that the company clears atleast 1 million dollars.

Further, his company is neither publicly traded nor does it have shareholders. It is a private corporation. Additionally, he only has 12 employees for most of the year and increases that to approx. 30 employees right before the Christmas season (he owns a Christmas decorating business---Sephora, Gap, Macy's---his company decorates those stores).

This "agreement" was not ordered by the court, but an agreement that we both signed and submitted to the court and was it was signed off on by the judge. We both had attorney's and there was months of negotiating. He tried hiding income then and fought tooth and nail to keep from paying what he currently pays.

Question: wouldn't I need a court order to even get access to his companies financial records? If I could scrape up the money for a Forensic Accountant I would still need his cooperation, right?

We filed this agreement in New York City (where we both resided at that time), but I have since moved to Nevada. However, NY still retains jurisdiction.

Forgot to mention: he tries to hide the luxurious lifestyle that he lives by claiming that it's his wife's money. He did marry someone with a modicum of wealth (nearly $300,000 yr/salary). Million dollar penthouse, country home in CT, 5 attempts at IVF (she has fertility issues), etc. They seem to have money for all of the things they want, but he balks at paying more child support. And as you know, as children get older it becomes more expensive.

I said nothing---asked for nothing---for more than five years. I think that he can and more importantly he should contribute more to his daughter's well-being.

I hope I answered all of your questions.

why not simply ask him to change the support?

There comes a point where money is just a number and if he's living beyond his means it would be hard to take what he's holding on tightly to.

The most spiteful child support arangement I know is a EH quitting his $80K job to work for minimum wage at his new wife's practice. So the EW gets CS based on minimum wage.

quote:

Question: wouldn't I need a court order to even get access to his companies financial records? If I could scrape up the money for a Forensic Accountant I would still need his cooperation, right?

Not necessarily. An attorney has the legal right to request and to persue avenues in obtaining financial records. You may have to find an attorney in NY though.

Besides using an attorney to look closer at his business etc. You should be able to file for child support where you reside, have the support case transferred there to you.
I'd say just file at the local child support agency and let them do the work for you, but I don't know that they would go so far as to look close enough into his business as opposed to just his personal tax returns.

I think a judge is going to have difficulty believing that he only makes that kind of money, but keep in mind that, and I don't think he wants to, but by having a better lifestyle than you he could claim that your kid/s is/are better of with him.