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Getting out of job search programs when you are self-employed
 
 
I am also "self-employed" in the eyes of the court, because I own the corporation I work for, and on an off hand comments from my wife's attorney: "don't we have a job program for people like these" I was ordered to make 5 applications a week because my reported and actual income was still $0. (NOTE when investing in a business taking any money out is TOTALLY STUPID as you just retax the money you just put in - but judges basically know nothing about real business and assume it is a scam to avoid paying CS)  I was working 60+ hours a week on my business for the last 2 years and had invested ALL my savings - close to $300K. This is a significant business, not just consulting, but I have developed 22 different products to sell in a catalog that is launching this month, have 22 web sites up and several people helping me - generating a cumulative six figure loss to get started.  BTW I have been an entrepreneur and CEO for over 16 years - so this is my established profession, nothing new.   
 
The job probation officer recommended I just write an offer letter to myself and get out of the program right away.  I forget if it was our first or second weekly meeting when I simply showed her what I was working on. She understood this was ridiculous immediately. However, it ate up a day of my time every week for about 6 weeks. My wife's attorney seems to be from the "inflict as much pain and suffering on the opposition as possible" school" of thought, as opposed to having any reasonable position or ethics. He knows damn well, as does she that I am working my butt off, but they want to benchmark a high salary for child support - Sorry bad timing for that! :)
 
I did not create an offer letter right away, as I wanted to learn more and not appear to be scamming the system. But about a month later I showed up for the job review in front of another judge as planned and produced an offer letter to myself. As I understand it as long as I am making my CS payments (based on a fictional salary the judge picked)  I don't really have to pay myself - the company can accrue the debt to me unpaid.  The probation officer recommended I be removed from the job program and I was. My wife and her attorney did not show up for the hearing, so I am not sure what they would have done if they had.  However, the key here is that the probation officer is REQUIRED to not get in the way of your actual job and drop you as soon as you have one. They are not allowed to differentiate or discriminate and it is a constitutional right to pick your own vocation that a judge can not change.   I would spend a little time educating the probation officer first though so they don't think this is a scam either and will support you in front of the court.
 
The court assumes you are scamming and lying when you say you have no income. The court officer even said to my attorney something like "he looks like he fits the profile of guys trying to scam the system" - Can you believe that. The facts are there in front of them and they would rather stick with a theory based on their suspicious nature. 
 
Also you might want to check into the precedent Flaherty v. Flaherty.  It is the opposition's side (burden of proof on them) to prove you actually have that income amount - not yours to prove otherwise (as proving a negative is impossible). They should not generally go outside the guidelines on this when you have no income. There is also a federal law that states any more than 50% of income for child support is illegal - trumping any state court ruling and making any amount over 50% ILLEGAL!!! If you are really earning $0 I would cite this federal law and say you believe the order to be unlawful. Your attorney, of course, should know all this but most are spineless and will not go up against the judges desire in spite of the fact that this screws you, their client.