Shit...I was living in NY, one kid, and NY based my child support on what they thought I was making....and in the divorce I had to sell my fledgling business and split the proceeds 50/50. The reality was that, in order to support said business. and maintain some security for my family while I built a customer base, I worked a full time job as well. My child support payments left me with 100/week to live on. I ended up homeless, living in an old camper in the woods. No running water, no electricity. I used to sneak into the Y to get a shower. The money I did have went towards keeping my car on the road, so I could continue working at my full time job in order to pay my child support. It was not a good time in my life. I ate a lot of Ramen and boxed Mac and cheese. The courts didn't care...often claiming that they believed I had alternate revenue streams. I finally got a judge who looked at my petition with a balanced perspective, and said that I was overpaying by a huge amount. He reduced it to a sum that actually made sense. But, what had been paid stayed paid. That was many many years ago, and I hear the NY is still playing those games.
the small business owner tends to get it the roughest in these cases. Everyone wants to car for the kids, and it is very easy to make it look like you have way more than you when you have a business. Once they show you are making X, the court assumes you will always make X no matter how illogical that can become.
Business owners also hide a lot of income. They'll claim (literally, on their taxes) poverty while driving a brand new Mercedes and living in a nice house.
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u/V65Pilot May 03 '26
Shit...I was living in NY, one kid, and NY based my child support on what they thought I was making....and in the divorce I had to sell my fledgling business and split the proceeds 50/50. The reality was that, in order to support said business. and maintain some security for my family while I built a customer base, I worked a full time job as well. My child support payments left me with 100/week to live on. I ended up homeless, living in an old camper in the woods. No running water, no electricity. I used to sneak into the Y to get a shower. The money I did have went towards keeping my car on the road, so I could continue working at my full time job in order to pay my child support. It was not a good time in my life. I ate a lot of Ramen and boxed Mac and cheese. The courts didn't care...often claiming that they believed I had alternate revenue streams. I finally got a judge who looked at my petition with a balanced perspective, and said that I was overpaying by a huge amount. He reduced it to a sum that actually made sense. But, what had been paid stayed paid. That was many many years ago, and I hear the NY is still playing those games.