Tired of fighting things out in court

My ex filed a complaint for modification looking to pay less child support. He barely pays anything as it is so I can’t imagine he should pay less. We exchanged paystubs and when I put the information into the child support guidelines, it looks like he should be paying me $100 more per week than we agreed to four years ago. He has a new wife who has children and he just wants more money for their household. There is no other change in circumstances.

My friend told me there is a way to make a motion for a summary to make everything go away. I don’t really want to fight to get more money. I’m tired of fighting, I just want to stop getting dragged to court. I can’t afford to keep hiring lawyers. Do you know what this is about and if I can do anything to make this kind of motion go away?

You are asking about a motion for summary judgment. They are not made very often within the context of Domestic Relations Procedure because you cannot make such a motion in a divorce, paternity or contempt matter. But, in a general modification like this, you can ask for summary judgment (which is essentially a judgment without having to go to trial) in your favor if there are no material facts in dispute. Rule 27C of the Supplemental rules of Probate Court governs the practice of filing motions for summary judgment in probate court. It is a very complicated motion to bring and there are very strict rules that apply, so read carefully.

Look on the trial court website and read the rule. You need to file a motion and supporting memorandum and an affidavit of agreed upon facts. You will need to have either an agreement on the facts or you will need to support each fact with some sort of reference usually obtained in discovery like a deposition transcript reference. You are looking to avoid discovery so you will not have these necessary references.

You could try to send him a stipulation of facts and see if he will agree to the facts to “narrow the issues” for the judge to ultimately decide. If so, you can use that stipulation in your motion for summary judgment.

If you really want to go this route, you can hire a lawyer for the limited purpose of filing the summary judgment motion and ask that lawyer to request your ex be held responsible for the fees.

Alternatively, sit back and do nothing until there is a hearing. Then, file your financial statement form and your child support guidelines worksheet. Ask the judge to order him to pay more and pay for your lost day at work. The judge can quickly help him calculate the downside risk to moving forward. If you still just want it to go away, it will. But, if he has to pay more, he will be reluctant to try this again.