My ex is angry that I am happily remarried. She brought me back to court requesting that I pay more child support because my new wife is a successful engineer who runs her own business. Because we were both married before and both have children from prior marriages, we signed a prenuptial agreement. We keep all of our finances separate and don’t even file joint tax returns.
Last weekend when we got back from a long weekend in Maine to celebrate our first anniversary, we found a subpoena from my ex taped to the front door requiring my new wife to attend a deposition and produce all kinds of personal financial information.
Why should my wife be penalized for marrying me? Can I do anything to protect my wife from my ex?
You can hire her a lawyer to file a motion to quash the deposition subpoena and issue a protective order so that she does not have to show up for the deposition. The rules of discovery go only so far. It is not permissible to use discovery as a tool for harassment, which is what seems to be going on here. The motion to protect your wife from your ex’s fishing expedition is even stronger because of your prenuptial agreement — be sure to give the lawyer helping your wife a copy.
The child support guidelines contain a long definition as to what constitutes “income” for purposes of calculating child support. Contributions to a household made by a new spouse are not on the definition list. However, that does not mean your ex is completely barred from making an argument that your new wife’s contributions have raised the standard of living in your household to a level where you should pay more support.
If your children spend equal time in each household or otherwise significant time with you, and your children suddenly have a much higher standard of living in your home than in their mother’s home, the judge might be inclined to enter a finding that the children are living disparate lives and ought to have similar lifestyles in both households.
In that situation, the judge may find that your new wife is capable of paying substantially all of the household expenses and may deviate from the guidelines and order you to pay something more. However, under no circumstances should the judge consider your wife’s income as yours for purposes of running the child support guidelines. The case law says children should be supported by the financial resources of their parents — not their parents’ new spouses. If you want to read a case for yourself, google Cappuccino v. Cappuccino.
