Q. My ex relocated to New York City for work a year ago.  Before he moved, we had 50/50 custody of our children but now he rarely sees them and obviously cannot see them half the time. I asked him to pay more child support. He says he cannot afford to even though his new job pays a lot more than his prior job.  I filed a complaint to modify the support a few months ago, but nothing is happening.  How do I keep this moving?  I expect he will do everything he can to delay this but in the meantime I really need more support. We have three teenage boys, and the food bill is through the roof. What do you suggest?

A. When there is a modification case filed, typically the court will assign you for a Pathways conference with a judicial case manager pretty quickly. It may be that your case fell through a crack.

I suggest you file a motion asking the court to change the child support on a temporary basis. When you file the motion ask for a hearing to be scheduled. Understand that unless there is an emergency situation, the court may not be willing to grant relief on a temporary basis.  So, you should include a provision asking for alternative relief being that if the court does not increase support now, that support be increased retroactive to the date you served him with the summons when the case is eventually over.

You should expect your ex to claim that he needs a downward adjustment of the child support guidelines amount because he is now living and working out of state and he will incur travel costs to spend time with your children. Deviation of the guidelines amount is up to the judge’s discretion and is sometimes allowed and sometimes not. Your ex will also likely claim that the NY city tax is high and so his available cash flow is less.

Your counter to his claims are that he voluntarily gave up half of the time with his children for a job opportunity out of state leaving you in the precarious situation of providing for their care on a full-time basis and he somehow expects to pay support as if he were still caring for them half of the time.  A judge is not likely to buy his argument. Prepare your financial statement and send him a demand for his. The judge will need both financial statements.

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