Darrin and his children's mother separated and divorced about 5 years ago.
They have three children and they consented to 50/50 shared custody and to both live in
the same school district. Both earn about the same amount at their respective jobs.
Perfect arrangement, one would think. Unfortunately, Darrin pays his children's mother
about $700 per month. Little Darrin, the couple's oldest child, was 14 at the time of
separation. Little Darrin wanted to live with his dad 90% of the overnight stays and
his parents agreed.
However, Darrin's support would not change until their custody order was modified and
Darrin would then have to file to modify support.
The mother resisted changing the custody order upon advice of her counsel and Darrin was
forced to file to modify the custody. Two years and $3000 in psychological evaluation
expenses later for Darrin and $10,000 in attorney fees for his kids' mother,
Allegheny Family Court awarded Darrin primary custody of Darrin, Jr.
Darrin eventually got his support order modified and lowered a fraction. However, because
the two parents were to share in the extracurricular expenses of their children and Darrin
had paid for and documented all of the expenses, the Court set a separate hearing for this
issue. Darrin was awarded most of the documented extracurricular expenses and is scheduled
to receive a wage attached support check from his children's mother.
In a postscript, Darrin's kids' mother was sued by her attorney for non-payment of her
legal bills. The attorney won a financial judgment against the mother.
