A material change in circumstances such as a reduction in income that is due to no fault of the parent paying support is justification for a court to modify a child support order. However, it will not excuse non-payment according to the terms of the support order. Therefore, you need to file a petition to modify the support order and get a hearing before a judge to reduce the amount of support you need to pay until your income is back at the level it was before the cutbacks made by your employer.

Frequently Asked Questions

 


Q:

My child support payments are set by a court order. It was effective almost two years ago. However, due to the slowdown in the economy, my hours at work have been cut back and the reduction in my income has made it difficult for me to pay child support and my other expenses. My ex-wife knows about this but insists that I continue to pay the court-ordered amount of  child support or she will have me held in contempt. Is there anything I can do?

A: A material change in circumstances such as a reduction in income that is due to no fault of the parent paying support is justification for a court to modify a child support order. However, it will not excuse non-payment according to the terms of the support order. Therefore, you need to file a petition to modify the support order and get a hearing before a judge to reduce the amount of support you need to pay until your income is back at the level it was before the cutbacks made by your employer.


Bookmark and Share

©2010 Law Chambers of Anton J. Stelly, All Rights Reserved, Reproduced with Permission
The Best in Website Design for Attorneys, Attorney Web Blogs That Work, Attorney Search Engine Optimization, Optimized Video Services for Lawyers and Update Your Website Yourself
by Foster Web Marketing - The Best Attorney Website Design & Hosting Firm
Get SEO Tips from The Attorney Internet Marketing Blog