Am I being unreasonable?

I have two children from my first marriage and my ex was paying 189.00 weekly for them he was ordered to pay half the medical also which he never did and to pay 1/2 for any activities they did which he never did either it was hard enough just to get the child support that was ordered by the court from him

I do not think your being unreasonable why should you have to pay for every thing you both made this child, as mothers we get it all were the care givers of every thing our children need we have to keep a roof over there heads, food, clothing, medications etc.. the list never ends and all the guy has to do is pay this little child support that barley covers taking care of a child especially as they get older things cost even more. Your ex is just pissed because he doesn't feel it's his responsibility but it is if you were together he'd be contributing to helping raise this child on a daily basis not just once a month so you do what needs to be done just because the two of you are no longer together he is always going to be your son's father and while he is a child he has to take care of him just like you do.

Good luck I hope he wakes up and realizes that things cost money that our kids want to do and that it is fair to split things since your both his parents.

I don't think so. However, I would have a talk with the ex and see if he will agree to paying for half of some of these expenses when they come up, or if the next time he has your son, he would take him to purchase some of the things he needs for whatever sport he is in. The father may agree to do this, because he won't be having to pay out more each month, and if he buys the things your son needs instead of giving you money, he can't very well say you are "milking him". If he won't agree though, I would go ahead with the court proceedings. As far as claiming him on the taxes, I think how it goes it whomever has the child for 6 months or more out of the year claims him, unless otherwise ordered by the court. You might bring that up at the child support hearing and see what they say. Good luck.

I say yes and no.Child support is based on income so yes 10 years things have changed and price of living has gone up.He may be able to afford more is what i think you are saying since he was only in college back then. The child support i agree may need to be raised that is up to the courts. I do feel if you are not working than he should claim him on his taxes.I agree $225 a month is just a drop in the bucket to raise a child especially a teenager,but I always felt that even good men kinda get the shaft in divorces cause they have to support ta place for them to live plus gpay child support which they should pay but it can't be easy for them either.I would not even try to use that visitation thing because you said it is do to his work him working is how you are being paid child support and you yourself said he spends time with him when possable.

I'm with you. $225 is a ridiculously small amount considering the cost of living right now. Maybe ten years ago $225 for a college student was reasonable, but with the increases of living costs, things have to be readjusted.

About your taxes: A child has to be living with you for at least 6 months of the year to claim him. If you both have him this amount of time, get a court order stating who claims him and who doesn't. If one parent has him longer than the other, that parent should get to claim him.

If your son's father thinks he is paying more for your child than you are, keep detailed statements and lists on EVERYTHING you spend to show him differently at the end of the year.

People who whine about paying child support are missing the big picture...their child's welfare.

$225 per month is not very much. I think most parents probably spend more than $7.50 per day on their kids. The food alone would come to that. Even if he is paying the unreimbursed medical expenses, I don't think you are being unreasonable. Figure out how much he paid in medical expenses for the past year, divide that by the number of days in the year, and add $7.50. That will give you how much per day he is spending. Then try to figure out how much per day you are spending on the child, and compare the two. I am a bit confused as you say you have the child about 6 mos out of the year. Does that mean, your ex has him about the same amount of time. If so, that also needs to be factored in when figuring how much he spends totally.

If you are both contributing about the same amount, that would be fair.

Why don't you start a running list of how much you spend on your child in a month. For everything. Then show it to him. That should determine if you are being "unreasonable" or not. You, as the primary provider, should be responsible for more than 50% of that child, so I would think if the expenses are "only" $600/mo, then $225 is reasonable. If the expenses come to around $1000/mo, then yes, he should pay a bit more.

No, you aren't being unreasonable (clearly I am alone in this belief, but I wonder the motives of the other person who answered this). He should be paying for 1/2 of all the sports your son is involved in, and 1/2 of other expenses. You two created this boy together, and should equally be responsible for paying for his care, etc. Whatever reasons he is giving are ridiculous, he NEEDS to man up and be responsible for his kid. Seriously $225 a month? What does that pay for? one pair of jeans? He needs to get over himself.

Apply for extra child support, he should be paying based on his ability right now, not on what he was making as a college student!!!

Its reasonable. Things cost more than they did 10 years ago. Your son also eats more. As far as driving, you two decide what you want to do. If you want to get him a car, you could both pay half or something. I'd not add car payments to his child support. A car is a priviledge, not something your child has to have. With taxes, don't give in. Its your roof and your food the child uses most of the year. There is no way on earth he should get the tax credit.

In the end it only matters what the courts say as child support is based on your ex's income. I don't think you're being unreasonable at all. You care for your son more and pay for more of his activities. The very least your ex can do is help out financially, especially if he's not seeing your son like he should. Take him back to court.

If your expenses are Higher than $225 yes he needs to pay more, but honestly in today's economy $225 PER MONTH it's almost a joke, I know someone that pays that per week and he is not rich @ all, but he loves his daughter.

Your Ex it's making a mistake complaining, if you guys go to court he will end up paying A LOT more ... also try to put the 15 y.o. boy to work so he can start paying his bills.

Real man work hard for their money since young!

OScar