My BF's EX didn't have a job after being divorce for two years. The Judge asked her if she was mentally handicapped or something. }:)

Anyway, the Judge made the CS based on her working 40hrs a week at minimum wage. Said there was no reason for her not having a job when she had 4 children (2 with BF 2 with another guy) to feed.

I think it depends on where you live. When SS came to live with us for a year, BM quit working to go back to school. They judge didn't bat an eye and said she could pay $80 a month. However, once SS went back to live with BM (because he hated being accuontable at our house), BM was now working at a well paying job, and DH went back to school (and be a stay home dad to our young 2), the courts threw a fit and still held him at the wages he had a job in another state more than 5 years earlier which was twice what he could make at the state we were living in! When he tried to file a complaint they basically laughed and told him he was the dad and to just deal with it.

I think dads get more unfair treament than moms for the same stuff.

Wow, I live in N.C. and its nothing like anything any of ya'll are saying for us here. My Fiancés ex has not worked in over 20 years(becoming pregnant with their 1st she quit work). When they were still together he bought her a few dogs to breed and a fancy camera. She now raises and sells all sorts of dogs and snakes and has a crappy photography page on facebook. 25$ a session, c.d.s only ..real professional! So when they went to court for the divorce she 'never worked' so he has to pay the maximum c.s. and insurance which is almost half his check. When we went back to court last year for custody the judge asked her why she doesn't work and her response was '' I have a bad back, and I don't have to ''and proceeded to brag that her new husband and her have more 'things' than her and previous husband did,( she left old husband for new husband with deeper pockets ) Well funny part is we lost the custody battle BECAUSE the mother could give the child her un divided attention , (not that she does). How messed up is the system !?!Oh and she claimed the child on taxes and doesn't claim her small business either. I have even heard thru the rumor mill she is making jokes that she wants me to hurry up and graduate college so SHE can get more money . Greedy lil heifer wont be getting my duckits!

Wow, I live in N.C. and its nothing like anything any of ya'll are saying for us here. My Fiancés ex has not worked in over 20 years(becoming pregnant with their 1st she quit work). When they were still together he bought her a few dogs to breed and a fancy camera. She now raises and sells all sorts of dogs and snakes and has a crappy photography page on facebook. 25$ a session, c.d.s only ..real professional! So when they went to court for the divorce she 'never worked' so he has to pay the maximum c.s. and insurance which is almost half his check. When we went back to court last year for custody the judge asked her why she doesn't work and her response was '' I have a bad back, and I don't have to ''and proceeded to brag that her new husband and her have more 'things' than her and previous husband did,( she left old husband for new husband with deeper pockets ) Well funny part is we lost the custody battle BECAUSE the mother could give the child her un divided attention , (not that she does). How messed up is the system !?!Oh and she claimed the child on taxes and doesn't claim her small business either. I have even heard thru the rumor mill she is making jokes that she wants me to hurry up and graduate college so SHE can get more money . Greedy lil heifer wont be getting my duckits!

It depends on the state. Some states are community property states, and those ones may consider your income. In our state, the new spouse's income is not part of the equation. It is included on FAFSA though.

I was worried about this too when I got married. I make 3x his salary, so I freaked that they'd try to take my money.

The support calculation method for most states allows the Judge to impute a full time income on an unemployed parent based on their qualifications. If the parent has no qualifications than a full time minimum wage income can be imputed. The important thing to remain aware of is that it is at the Judge's discretion.

In our case we had one Judge who accepted the Sperm Idiot's actual income though he was purposely remaining under employed in an attempt to minimize his CS. We then had another Judge several years later who imputed a much higher wage on the Sperm Idiot than his W-2 income because of his purposeful manipulation of his income to avoid CS. The Sperm Idiot is a licensed plumber who works part time for a plumbing service but works a bunch of off the clock hours under the table for cash. We hired a PI to prove that the Sperm Idiot was working under the table and the video footage of him receiving several cash payments for off the books plumbing work motivated the second Judge to raise his CS by more than 600% and award two years of arrears at the much higher CS level. }:)

The games that both BM and your DH are playing may or may not come back to bite them both when they are in front of a Judge.

I suggest that you and DH go to court loaded with as much information and data as possible to show BM's manipulations and to show accurately what your DH's income is. Don't play games and hold BM fully accountable for her employment choices. Ultimately however it will be up to the Judge.