Question:
My ex-wife’s attorney is requesting salary information from my new job because of my increased income.
He said because I have an alimony and child support obligation that he is entitled to know my earnings.
Do I have to provide my ex-wife’s divorce lawyer with my pay stubs and financial records?
Answer:
I am unable to give you legal advice on divorce. I can give general divorce help for men, though, my knowledge is based on Pennsylvania divorce laws where I am licensed to practice.
In general, when you have ongoing support obligations, the support obligation is modifiable, and if there is a change in circumstance from when the time when the support order is entered, then you are under an affirmative duty to notify the court if there is a change in your employment.
A change of circumstances is typically considered a change in employment and/or a change in the custody schedule. Where I practice, the notification should occur within seven days of the change in circumstances.
Dependent upon your Marital Settlement Agreement, your alimony obligation may or may not be modifiable. If it is modifiable, your new income will be taken into consideration. If it is non-modifiable, it will remain the same.
In my state, child support is always modifiable, so again, your child support obligation will be modified based on your new income. Also, my state is a guidelines-based state, which means that your income and your ex-spouse’s income will be taken into consideration when determining what the appropriate support order will be. If your income has increased minimally, it typically will not affect the overall support number significantly.
Related:
Generally, a support order may not be confiscatory, which means that the monthly support order cannot be so high that it leaves the person paying support with not enough money to meet their basic needs and living expenses.
Another issue is that your ex-wife’s attorney appears to be informally requesting the information. Typically for an exchange of information to be necessary, formal documents, called discovery and/or subpoenas, must be filed or served on parties.
If these documents are not served upon you, you are not required to voluntarily turn the documents over to your ex-wife’s attorney. However, if discovery and/or subpoenas are not served, this does not negate your duty to notify the court of a change in circumstances, if that is a requirement in your county.
Remember, I am unable to provide you with anything more than divorce tips for men, so please consult with divorce lawyers for men in your jurisdiction.
To arrange an initial consultation to discuss divorce rights for men with a Cordell & Cordell attorney, including Philadelphia Divorce Lawyer Caroline J. Thompson, contact Cordell & Cordell.