I would like to know some more about child support laws, and I figure you might know. Right now, ow is receiving the first cut of my h's pay. However, I have a claim, now inactive, that predates hers. This is because I filed for child support way back during the a itself. Is there anyway that I could reopen that now so that my claim comes before her claim in the figures, or does the fact that hers is the only active claim at this moment mean that she automatically keeps the first slice of the pie. I'm just trying to figure out if there is a way to reduce what she is currently getting from my h. Any advice you can give me would be appreciated. Also, how do you think filing for such an action would affect the visitation procedings? Would it be better to wait until visitation has been established, or better not to do it at all? This whole thing really confuses me and I am sure by now our lawyer, though he is truly a dear man, must be losing patience with my endless stream of questions and ill-conceived ideas.<BR>Thanks -cd

<BR>cd,<P>State laws vary on this. You need to ask your lawyer. <P>Bystander

CD, I can tell you what my lawyer told me. I am in TN. <P>I filed for CS prior to OW filing. There is no statute of limitations on CS. It stays active unless a court orders a change. So in TN, yes... your CS order would be taken out prior to hers. I would present it to whatever lawyer she has and tell him that this order should have been taken into consideration when her CS amount was set. The worst thing that can happen is they say "it isn't valid anymore". I really don't know how an order can be considered invalid, so I would try pulling it out & taking it to court. <P>I filed D papers the week I discovered affair. I figured I would protect myslef & children first, then worry about repairing marriage. I don't regret taking that path. My H didn't even know that I knew about A until he saw the divorce papers. So it was a big "shocker" that helped get him out of the fog. I then filed CS prior to her filing, fo rthe same reason. I have been advised by some folks on this board that to file for CS and then stay married can be considered a tactic to avoid CS to the OC. In my opinion, if I have to divorce my H and then live together in order to protect the income my children receive, well I will do it if that is what it takes (and if I want to stay with my H).<P>I think visitation is set by guidelines and should have no impact on what you are doing. Your H is entitled by law to visitation. There should be no monkeying around with it based on anything that isn't in the legal guidelines. <P>As i said, this is based on my knowledge of law in TN and what my lawyer has told me. Talk to yours. Take care... Carolyn

Dear Takingcare,<BR>Thanks so much for the input. I am thinking about trying it. I just have to get it through my h's thick skull that filing for cs against him does NOT mean that I am secretly planning to leave him.<BR>-cd