Question.....

keychain01

A judge ordered ex to pay child support in our case back in Nov. I found out that he is appealing it. He has had a child since I had our son. He has not paid me anything what-so-ever, but wants to have this amount lowered because he has another family to take care of.

I also had a job change so my income has gone up significantly since Nov. We go back to court friday for the appeal. My question is this...has anyone been through an appeal case, and do I need a lawyer this time? When it was just the CS hearing we were done in less that 20 minutes tops, but now I think things are about to get tricky. I read up on previous cases about this issue (parent is now a parent to another family) and they all say its "depending on the judge".

And if I don't need to get a lawyer for this, do I bring in all the emails/texts/letters he sent to me declaring that he wasn't going to pay a dime out of his pocket for our "b#stard child"? I honestly thought this would be an open and shut issue, but he is trying to leave his stamp everywhere possible. 

Thanks in advance for any information!

FyreFlyeRush

Again, all this is state specific. In my state, my income doesn't matter. Only his does. My ex didn't pay child support for DD until she was nearly 7, when he filed for a lower amount. The courts jumped at the chance to throw him in jail. His back child support was 25K give or take. However, I asked that he be given one more chance. The court lowered his payments because he had two children from a previous marriage. BUT...they upped the back CS, so he was ordered to pay more. They've done this everytime he's gone back to court. He finally quit asking for adjustments.  And, he finally stopped job hopping. Granted, Texas finds job hoppers REALLY fast.  

karleegirl

I was a single mom for 10 yrs so I lurk here sometimes. In my state all those factors will be taken into consideration. I wouldn't go to court without a lawyer, no way, no how. Take out a loan, or ask for a payment plan if you have too.

keychain01

Thanks ladies, I am going to get one. I thought it could be avoided, but it can't. Sucks that I have to give money to get money.