I pay $1900.00 in spousal support and she was supposed to take over certain bills, these are not being paid and are affecting my credit, can I pay the past due amount i.e. car payment and deduct it from her support with an itemized statement showing what was paid?
Answer
If I were you, I would pay the past-due bills, such as the car payment, and then file a separate motion asking the court to allow you to deduct what you paid from future spousal maintenance payments. Thus if the car payment is $400 per month (as an example), I would pay that amount, file the motion, and asked the court to allow you to automatically make these payments and automatically deducted the corresponding amount from the spousal maintenance that you pay her.
Thus, if at the time of the hearing on the motion, you have paid four months of the car payment you would deduct $1,600 from the next $1,900 spousal maintenance payment, and then in each subsequent month that the payment is not made on time or by the due date, you can then make it before it turns up as a late charge on your credit report, and deducted $400 from the following month's $1,900 spousal maintenance payment.
It seems to me that if you are paying $1,900 a month in spousal maintenance, you can probably afford counsel to help you in this case. You would be wise to do so if you can afford counsel. Just making a motion to ask for what I've laid out above may not be enough. I suggest (if you do not already have an attorney), that you consult with local counsel near you to get an idea of fees and to get a feel for a particular attorney to see if you are comfortable. Don't just settle for the first person you talked to, and don't go purely based on the hourly rate. You need to make sure that you have a good feeling about the attorney you are going to work with. The best situation is if you could get a referral to somebody from a friend or family member who has used them before.
best of luck to you,
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