Don’t stop paying child support, even if you lose your income

When you get a child support order during a divorce, it is based in part on your income. The court will try to find a way for you to pay a reasonable amount of money to help your child have a normal standard of living and get everything that they would need, such as food and shelter, for a healthy lifestyle.

Not every parent will be ordered to pay the same amount of child support after a divorce. There are a lot of different factors that go into determining that amount.

That said, the order can last for as long as 18 years. A lot can change in that time, including your employment status. If you lose your job, can you stop paying your child support?

You need to seek a real modification

You definitely don’t want to stop paying, as the order does not automatically terminate just because you lost your job. You still need to keep paying as much as you can, and you may owe back money for payments that were missed.

What you want to do is seek a modification. You can do this by going to court and having a judge modify the order so that you don’t have to pay as much, or you and your former spouse can even talk about it and come to an agreement. If you choose to do this, the court still has to sign off on it, but the two of you can work together to find a solution that seems to work in your situation.

Just make sure that you actually seek a modification and that you don’t alter anything yourself. Take the time to consider all of the necessary legal steps.