Hi everyone,

I live in CA and filed for separation a while ago and then my ex modified the agreement and file for divorce. One of the first things we did was come up with a custody agreement and child support.

We are now in the process of hashing out everything else and we were in agreement on most everything except for the child support amount. I am not working and my STBX wants to impute my income to reduce his support amount. So we came to an agreement and then ran the numbers and of course the child support was more than my ex wanted to pay - so he said no.

Now he is upset and will not agree to anything at all. He wants everything re done to his amounts even though we were almost finished.

Well, now he wants 50% custody and to alternate every other week. Currently he has every other weekend - of which he is not even doing at the moment. Has anyone been through this. I mean can he just have it changed or does he have to ask for a modification and then since he is not even doing the amount he currently has - would they give him more?

I just want the custody to remain the same since the child is doing well. As change now would be confusing. My ex only wants the change to reduce his chils support amount, but is claiming he wants more time, but he is not even using all the time he has now.

I do not want to lose my children. They are still adjusting to everything. Any suggestions?

Have you documented that he does not take the kids on his parenting time? If not, you should have been doing this.
The alternate every week only works when the parents can effectively communicate post divorce, if this is not the case, you have good arguments against it. Also, the age of the kids is important here.
I can't remember if you used a psychological evaluator for custody. If not, this is an expensive solution which would likely work to your benefit.
Also, most courts would side with the status quo, ie. what you've been doing in separation.

Calm down and realize that he will not get everything that he wants. It's just a negotiating point to him. Determine your line, and stand by it -whether for custody or imputed income.