I'm guessing you've already seen the worksheet, but being a resident of your state, I feel compelled to comment on my process...just a little! Hope you don't mind!!
The only things that actually go into the the CS equation are your income, her income, daycare expenses (which aren't an issue in your case), and health insurance for minor children. You can also use court ordered CS paid by you for another minor child of a previous marriage (but, since you don't have that...not an issue). The CS is based on the lifestyle that the children could have had you not split. To be honest, her income is a small portion of the equation! You can get a reduction in CS if the kids stay with you more of the time (when we started the process it was something like more than every other weekend and 6 weeks in the summer). But, "staying" means overnight visits to your place of residence. We ran into that because my STBXH keeps the boys on Wednesday nights putting him over the limit. However, legally, she has no right to ask for additional money to cover rent, etc. for the kids. She's supposed to cover all additional expenses for the minor children from the calculated amount.
As for alimony...we didn't deal with that. Neither of us was bound to pay that legally. But, we worked out our own division of assets agreement. I kept the house equity, he got the truck, etc., etc., etc. We laid it all out and took it to my attorney (we only used one). She drew it up into a legal document and we signed and sent it to the judge. Apparently, since it's uncontested, we don't even have to appear in court. The judge will sign and we'll be done! I'm in the panhandle, so, don't know about your county.
I think OT is saying you should go ahead and split the debts when you separate...no more joint credit cards, checking accounts, etc. just for your own protection. Most credit cards won't let you change the name. I did have one that was an individual account and they let me drop him as a user. The others I had to cancel. If you carry a balance, the only way out is to transfer the balance to another card in the name you want to use.
I'll be glad to help with anything else you can think of. I'd even send you my documents so you can see what we included...if I knew how to find you!
Good luck! Amy
Me 39 H 36 S 7 S 4 T 15 M 12 H out 8/1/08 OW confirmed 8/6/08 D final on 6/12/09...I'm doing good!
