Dear troutpout-ga;
Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting question.
The best answer to your first question, "...will the payments
increase?", is ?maybe?. In the state of California (and in many other
states) the court COULD adjust the monthly payments according to the
man?s newly acquired ability to live at a certain level of comfort.
For example, if the man (before marriage) was making $20,000 a year
and was ordered to pay $200 a month, marries you, who makes $75,000 a
year, his former spouse/mother of his children could theoretically
petition the court for an increase and potentially get it. The court
COULD (again, theoretically) dip deeper (and, perhaps, very deeply)
into his personal $20,000 annual salary. In summary, the payments may
be increased at the court?s discretion, but they would probably not
exceed his person salary (i.e., dip into yours) since that amount is
all he makes on his own. In other words, the court doesn?t actually
add in a new spouse's income when they compute a non-custodial
parent?s obligation, but they might not be as lenient toward him if
his ex presents a convincing need and the court sees that your new
husband has another sufficient source of income in his household to
enable such an increase without causing him any inconvenience.
The short answer to your second question is ?No?. The new spouse of
someone who has been ordered by the court to pay spousal or child
support is under no legal obligation to pay the payments and cannot be
held criminally libel if the payments do not get made. Unless your
income and his income are derived from the same source (like a joint
business, etc) then no, the court, as a rule, does not go after a
spouse?s paycheck to satisfy a support obligation.
The exception to the rule is complicated. If your husband is behind in
his support and the two of you have a joint account where you both
deposit your $20 and $75 annual incomes ? BEWARE!!! The court can take
money from that account sufficient to satisfy his entire arrearages,
and they won?t hesitate to take yours too (or even ask if you
contributed to the account). In like manner, if he is behind and the
two of you have any investments or major purchases together, the court
can, in some cases, come in an liquidate enough of your joint assets
to satisfy his debt to his children (or his ex, or both). A good rule
to follow is if your new spouse comes into the marriage with a hen
problem, keep ?your? eggs in a different basket and you?ll keep them
fairly safe.
You must keep in mind that this forum is not a source for legal advice
? your attorney is the best place for that information. In addition,
there is no accurate way to predict what any court will do in any
given situation, so anything you are told is, at the very best, mere
speculation based in what may have happened in the recent past. Even
the most predictable judges have been known to do unpredictable
things.
I hope you find that my research exceeds your expectations. If you
have any questions about my research please post a clarification
request prior to rating the answer. Otherwise, I welcome your rating
and your final comments and I look forward to working with you again
in the near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad ? Google Answers Researcher
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