If you have questions about this posting or are interested in Divorce and Child Support in RI or MA contact Massachusetts and Rhode Island Divorce Lawyer Rui P. Alves at 401-942-3100 or CONTACT him via email.
Case: Divorce and Child Support
Details of Case: During divorce and child support settlement husband claimed he made 1/4 of his actual income.
Result: Husband ordered to pay full child support on all income resulting in a significant increase in child support payments.
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If you have questions about this posting or are interested in Divorce and Child Support in RI or MA contact Massachusetts and Rhode Island Divorce Lawyer Rui P. Alves at 401-942-3100 or CONTACT him via email.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Rhode Island Child Support Establishment
How is Rhode Island (RI) Child Support determined in the case of divorce, paternity, and access to children?
Child support in the State of Rhode Island is determined by the Rhode Island Family Court Child Formula Guidelines. For most instances, the minimum amount of support is ordered according to this guideline. A parent it entitled however, to request more than this approach because the guidelines are only intended to give the state a starting foundation, and offer guidance in cases involving alimony.
The court will examine all of the assets of the parties in determining child support. Whatever circumstances the Judge considers appropriate can be examined by the court, including each parties expense and living needs, as well as financial and realty assets. In cases involving an unemployed party, or a party that refuses to work, the court may determine the economic capability of the party rather than basing the guideline on pertinent fact that are not in existence.
The Rhode Island Child Support Guidelines uses a percentage of the adjusted gross income for both parents to determine the actual amount of maintenance payments. A Judge may allow discretionary expenses, such as medical or life insurance premiums, to be deducted from this baseline amount in some cases.
Because the guideline uses a percentage of the difference in the adjusted gross income of both parties, the party that earns more money would be responsible for paying more child support if they are the non-custodial parent.
In some cases a judge may go above the guidelines, and in particular situations where there are excessive assets involved, standards of living that far exceed the reported gross income, or if there are extraordinary and necessary expenses related to the needs of the child.
Expenses such as daycare, private school, and activities expenses are generally not considered when applying the guideline, however, a judge may agree to allow for concessions for these amounts in the determination of support for the minor children.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you have questions about this posting or are interested in Divorce, Immigration, or Estate Law in RI or MA contact Massachusetts and Rhode Island Divorce Lawyer Rui P. Alves at 401-942-3100 or CONTACT him via email.
Child support in the State of Rhode Island is determined by the Rhode Island Family Court Child Formula Guidelines. For most instances, the minimum amount of support is ordered according to this guideline. A parent it entitled however, to request more than this approach because the guidelines are only intended to give the state a starting foundation, and offer guidance in cases involving alimony.
The court will examine all of the assets of the parties in determining child support. Whatever circumstances the Judge considers appropriate can be examined by the court, including each parties expense and living needs, as well as financial and realty assets. In cases involving an unemployed party, or a party that refuses to work, the court may determine the economic capability of the party rather than basing the guideline on pertinent fact that are not in existence.
The Rhode Island Child Support Guidelines uses a percentage of the adjusted gross income for both parents to determine the actual amount of maintenance payments. A Judge may allow discretionary expenses, such as medical or life insurance premiums, to be deducted from this baseline amount in some cases.
Because the guideline uses a percentage of the difference in the adjusted gross income of both parties, the party that earns more money would be responsible for paying more child support if they are the non-custodial parent.
In some cases a judge may go above the guidelines, and in particular situations where there are excessive assets involved, standards of living that far exceed the reported gross income, or if there are extraordinary and necessary expenses related to the needs of the child.
Expenses such as daycare, private school, and activities expenses are generally not considered when applying the guideline, however, a judge may agree to allow for concessions for these amounts in the determination of support for the minor children.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you have questions about this posting or are interested in Divorce, Immigration, or Estate Law in RI or MA contact Massachusetts and Rhode Island Divorce Lawyer Rui P. Alves at 401-942-3100 or CONTACT him via email.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
RI Governor Names New Family Court Judge
On May 11, 2010, Governor Carcieri named Karen Lynch Bernard to the Rhode Island Family Court bench. After graduating from Suffolk University School of Law, Judge Bernard began her long and distinguished career as a family law attorney.
The full article follows below.
Family Court nominee named
May 12, 2010
By Katie Mulvaney
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Governor Carcieri Tuesday nominated Karen Lynch Bernard, a Warwick lawyer with years of experience practicing family law, to the Family Court bench.
Bernard is a partner with her family’s Warwick firm, Lynch Bernard and Lynch, where she specializes in family and juvenile law. A four-time finalist for previous Family Court posts, she served as an assistant solicitor for the City of Warwick from 1989 to 1991.
“I am confident Karen’s knowledge and understanding of the law and the very complex issues that come before the Family Court, combined with her patience, integrity and zealousness, will be an asset as an associate judge of the Family Court,” Carcieri said in a statement. Her nomination is subject to the advice and consent of the Senate.
Lynch went to work for her father John D. Lynch’s law firm after graduating from Suffolk School of Law. There she works with her sister, Erin P. Lynch, a state senator who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and brother, John D. Lynch Jr., a member of the Ethics Commission. A lifelong Warwick resident, she lives in Warwick with her husband, Robert, and three children.
Lynch, 46, said she received the call from the governor around 1:35 p.m. “I was literally shaking,” said Lynch, who has long pursued a seat on the court. “I love Family Court,” she said. “Family Court is my main focus.”
Her years mediating among her nine siblings will equip her well for the job, she said. She added that she planned to step aside from hearing cases she or her family’s firm has been involved in as necessary, based on conversations with other judges. “I don’t really see that as being a big issue,” she said.
Her goal, she said, will be to get families through the judicial process with as little turmoil and as much civility and dignity as possible.
Lynch would replace Family Court Judge Howard I. Lipsey, who retired in late 2008 and has continued to sit in retirement.
Her name was among five forwarded to the governor by the Judicial Nominating Commission in March 2009. The others were Joseph A. Abbate, Family Court Magistrate Patricia K. Asquith, David N. Bazar and Rossie L. Harris Jr. The position comes with a base salary of about $140,642.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you have questions about this posting or are interested in Divorce, Immigration, or Estate Law in RI or MA contact Massachusetts and Rhode Island Divorce Lawyer Rui P. Alves at 401-942-3100 or CONTACT him via email.
The full article follows below.
Family Court nominee named
May 12, 2010
By Katie Mulvaney
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Governor Carcieri Tuesday nominated Karen Lynch Bernard, a Warwick lawyer with years of experience practicing family law, to the Family Court bench.
Bernard is a partner with her family’s Warwick firm, Lynch Bernard and Lynch, where she specializes in family and juvenile law. A four-time finalist for previous Family Court posts, she served as an assistant solicitor for the City of Warwick from 1989 to 1991.
“I am confident Karen’s knowledge and understanding of the law and the very complex issues that come before the Family Court, combined with her patience, integrity and zealousness, will be an asset as an associate judge of the Family Court,” Carcieri said in a statement. Her nomination is subject to the advice and consent of the Senate.
Lynch went to work for her father John D. Lynch’s law firm after graduating from Suffolk School of Law. There she works with her sister, Erin P. Lynch, a state senator who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and brother, John D. Lynch Jr., a member of the Ethics Commission. A lifelong Warwick resident, she lives in Warwick with her husband, Robert, and three children.
Lynch, 46, said she received the call from the governor around 1:35 p.m. “I was literally shaking,” said Lynch, who has long pursued a seat on the court. “I love Family Court,” she said. “Family Court is my main focus.”
Her years mediating among her nine siblings will equip her well for the job, she said. She added that she planned to step aside from hearing cases she or her family’s firm has been involved in as necessary, based on conversations with other judges. “I don’t really see that as being a big issue,” she said.
Her goal, she said, will be to get families through the judicial process with as little turmoil and as much civility and dignity as possible.
Lynch would replace Family Court Judge Howard I. Lipsey, who retired in late 2008 and has continued to sit in retirement.
Her name was among five forwarded to the governor by the Judicial Nominating Commission in March 2009. The others were Joseph A. Abbate, Family Court Magistrate Patricia K. Asquith, David N. Bazar and Rossie L. Harris Jr. The position comes with a base salary of about $140,642.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you have questions about this posting or are interested in Divorce, Immigration, or Estate Law in RI or MA contact Massachusetts and Rhode Island Divorce Lawyer Rui P. Alves at 401-942-3100 or CONTACT him via email.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
RI Family Court News
After 23 years as the Chief Justice of the Family Court, the Honorable Jeremiah S. Jeremiah, Jr. will retire as soon as Governor Carceiri appoints someone to take his place. Justice Jeremiah announced his decision on Friday April 2, 2010 in the courtroom at the Garrahy Judicial Complex and stated that it was based upon the fact that he felt "it was time for him to move on to the next stage of his life."
The complete article from the Providence Journal Online is shown below.
R.I. Family Court Chief Jeremiah to retire
Friday, April 2, 2010
By W. Zachary Malinowski
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Jeremiah S. Jeremiah Jr., the longtime chief of the state Family Court system, announced on Thursday that he will retire from the post he has held for the past 23 years. He will remain on the bench until Governor Carcieri names a successor.
Jeremiah, 74, of Warren, told Family Court judges and magistrates of his decision at 9 a.m. in Courtroom 5A in the J. Joseph Garrahy Judicial Complex.
“He feels that he has accomplished a great deal as chief judge and it is time for him to move on to the next stage of his life,” said Ronald J. Pagliarini, the court’s chief of staff. “He wants to spend more time with his grandchildren, his wife and children, and he wants to do more traveling.”
Jeremiah, who has had problems with his legs and uses a walker, has never shied from controversy.
Gov. Edward D. DiPrete named Jeremiah to the Family Court in 1986 and elevated him to chief judge a year later.
In 2007, following the death of a Barrington teenager in a boating accident that involved alcohol, Jeremiah asked police chiefs across the state to refer teen drinking cases to Family Court rather than to local juvenile hearing boards.
A few months earlier, Jeremiah began sending teens to the state Training School after concluding that some police agencies and the public felt that Family Court did not take underage drinking charges seriously.
Last year, he contacted a Journal reporter after a teenager appeared in his courtroom with extensive cuts and bruises on his face and body. The boy and his lawyer told Jeremiah that several Woonsocket police officers beat and kicked him in a city park and inside the Woonsocket police station.
The FBI launched an investigation that has resulted in the indictment of a Woonsocket police officer on a felony charge of violating the teenager’s civil rights.
In December, despite objections from the state Department of Children, Youth & Families, Jeremiah ordered the state to return a newborn baby and three other children to a woman who had suffered from psychiatric problems.
Jeremiah said he felt that the DCYF had been heavy-handed in its decision to remove the children because they lacked electricity in their apartment. He knew that the woman suffered from depression, and that she and her husband, a convicted felon, were facing an uphill battle, so he assigned a home health aide to make daily checks on the family to make sure things are working out.
So far, there have been no problems and Jeremiah said that things are going so well that the daily visits have been cut back to weekly visits.
Victoria M. Almeida, president of the Rhode Island Bar Association, has practiced law in Family Court for more than three decades. She said Jeremiah was a progressive chief judge whose primary focus was the well-being of the children who appeared before him.
“The Family Court was not just a job for him, it was a vocation,” she said, adding that he has a big heart and was always willing to give a troubled teen a second chance.
Jeremiah, who met with a reporter Thursday afternoon in his office on the sixth floor of the Garrahy courthouse, said he first began thinking about leaving the job three months ago. He said he talked about it with his wife, Theresa.
“Can I retire?” he asked her.
“Yeah, as long as you get a part-time job,” she said.
As chief judge, Jeremiah said he was proud of establishing the Juvenile Drug Court, Family Treatment Drug Court, Re-Entry Court, the Mental Health Court Clinic and a separate domestic violence calendar.
He said his retirement has nothing to do with a class-action suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union this week that charges the Truancy Court with violating the constitutional rights of children and their parents.
Jeremiah acknowledged that his physical problems have slowed him down. He badly injured both knees and suffered a severed tendon after falling in the courthouse and on a trip to California. And, three times over the past year, he said he has been hospitalized for having fluid buildup in his lungs.
“My mind is still sharp,” he said. “But I think a younger person should take over.”
Aside from hearing cases, Jeremiah has administrative responsibilities overseeing 18 judges and magistrates and about 150 court employees across the state. His judicial staff is second in size to the Superior Court.
He brushed off charges from defense lawyers that he can be tyrannical and difficult to appear before.
“I require them to be prepared,” Jeremiah said. “I’ve never been discourteous to a lawyer who’s prepared.”
Jeremiah said the part of the job that he will miss the most is helping turn around a young person’s life.
A few years ago, a young man appeared before him on a robbery charge. Jeremiah told him that if he straightened himself out and graduated from high school, he would buy him lunch.
Two months ago, a soldier in an Army uniform dropped by his office. The boy who had committed the robbery had grown up into a responsible young man.
“Can I buy you lunch?” the soldier said.
Jeremiah was tied up and couldn’t go, but he said that he plans on taking him up on the offer.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you have questions about this posting or are interested in Divorce, Immigration, or Estate Law in RI or MA contact Massachusetts and Rhode Island Divorce Lawyer Rui P. Alves at 401-942-3100 or CONTACT him via email.
The complete article from the Providence Journal Online is shown below.
R.I. Family Court Chief Jeremiah to retire
Friday, April 2, 2010
By W. Zachary Malinowski
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — Jeremiah S. Jeremiah Jr., the longtime chief of the state Family Court system, announced on Thursday that he will retire from the post he has held for the past 23 years. He will remain on the bench until Governor Carcieri names a successor.
Jeremiah, 74, of Warren, told Family Court judges and magistrates of his decision at 9 a.m. in Courtroom 5A in the J. Joseph Garrahy Judicial Complex.
“He feels that he has accomplished a great deal as chief judge and it is time for him to move on to the next stage of his life,” said Ronald J. Pagliarini, the court’s chief of staff. “He wants to spend more time with his grandchildren, his wife and children, and he wants to do more traveling.”
Jeremiah, who has had problems with his legs and uses a walker, has never shied from controversy.
Gov. Edward D. DiPrete named Jeremiah to the Family Court in 1986 and elevated him to chief judge a year later.
In 2007, following the death of a Barrington teenager in a boating accident that involved alcohol, Jeremiah asked police chiefs across the state to refer teen drinking cases to Family Court rather than to local juvenile hearing boards.
A few months earlier, Jeremiah began sending teens to the state Training School after concluding that some police agencies and the public felt that Family Court did not take underage drinking charges seriously.
Last year, he contacted a Journal reporter after a teenager appeared in his courtroom with extensive cuts and bruises on his face and body. The boy and his lawyer told Jeremiah that several Woonsocket police officers beat and kicked him in a city park and inside the Woonsocket police station.
The FBI launched an investigation that has resulted in the indictment of a Woonsocket police officer on a felony charge of violating the teenager’s civil rights.
In December, despite objections from the state Department of Children, Youth & Families, Jeremiah ordered the state to return a newborn baby and three other children to a woman who had suffered from psychiatric problems.
Jeremiah said he felt that the DCYF had been heavy-handed in its decision to remove the children because they lacked electricity in their apartment. He knew that the woman suffered from depression, and that she and her husband, a convicted felon, were facing an uphill battle, so he assigned a home health aide to make daily checks on the family to make sure things are working out.
So far, there have been no problems and Jeremiah said that things are going so well that the daily visits have been cut back to weekly visits.
Victoria M. Almeida, president of the Rhode Island Bar Association, has practiced law in Family Court for more than three decades. She said Jeremiah was a progressive chief judge whose primary focus was the well-being of the children who appeared before him.
“The Family Court was not just a job for him, it was a vocation,” she said, adding that he has a big heart and was always willing to give a troubled teen a second chance.
Jeremiah, who met with a reporter Thursday afternoon in his office on the sixth floor of the Garrahy courthouse, said he first began thinking about leaving the job three months ago. He said he talked about it with his wife, Theresa.
“Can I retire?” he asked her.
“Yeah, as long as you get a part-time job,” she said.
As chief judge, Jeremiah said he was proud of establishing the Juvenile Drug Court, Family Treatment Drug Court, Re-Entry Court, the Mental Health Court Clinic and a separate domestic violence calendar.
He said his retirement has nothing to do with a class-action suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union this week that charges the Truancy Court with violating the constitutional rights of children and their parents.
Jeremiah acknowledged that his physical problems have slowed him down. He badly injured both knees and suffered a severed tendon after falling in the courthouse and on a trip to California. And, three times over the past year, he said he has been hospitalized for having fluid buildup in his lungs.
“My mind is still sharp,” he said. “But I think a younger person should take over.”
Aside from hearing cases, Jeremiah has administrative responsibilities overseeing 18 judges and magistrates and about 150 court employees across the state. His judicial staff is second in size to the Superior Court.
He brushed off charges from defense lawyers that he can be tyrannical and difficult to appear before.
“I require them to be prepared,” Jeremiah said. “I’ve never been discourteous to a lawyer who’s prepared.”
Jeremiah said the part of the job that he will miss the most is helping turn around a young person’s life.
A few years ago, a young man appeared before him on a robbery charge. Jeremiah told him that if he straightened himself out and graduated from high school, he would buy him lunch.
Two months ago, a soldier in an Army uniform dropped by his office. The boy who had committed the robbery had grown up into a responsible young man.
“Can I buy you lunch?” the soldier said.
Jeremiah was tied up and couldn’t go, but he said that he plans on taking him up on the offer.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you have questions about this posting or are interested in Divorce, Immigration, or Estate Law in RI or MA contact Massachusetts and Rhode Island Divorce Lawyer Rui P. Alves at 401-942-3100 or CONTACT him via email.
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