Will the family courts realise the economic

[superdad01]

I was just thinking about the stats over the years and honestly it has never been this bad. Our economy is in crisis mode. Are the FOC and the courts going to realise this when your standing in front of them after your divorce? After you lose your job? I wonder if our elected officials are watching the bad economic news nightly on the news. I wonder what steps if any will be taken to help people out during this current crisis.

fathers want to support their children, yet after all the jobs and potiential jobs are being eliminated on a daily basis I wonder how it is going to work out for us all........ I wonder if we will be able to get a reduction after we have lost our job?  Can the judge honestly say jI don't care if you lost your job. You can find another one.   

Since I'm soon to be in this situation, I am wondering...

[gemini3]

I think it will be somewhere between "Just Pay Your Support" and "Get a Job".  My reason for feeling this way is that the child support system was designed to keep people out of the welfare lines.  Why give the mother's taxpayer money when they can get the money from dad?  "Fair" was never part of the arrangement. 

Therefore, they will probably be even more inclined to go after NCP's for support in excess of what is reaosnable.  Because there is less money available to the states.  They need the Fed money that they get for collecting CP, and they need to reduce the amount of money they pay out in public assistance programs.

The state of CA is bankrupt.  My state just cut teachers because they can't pay them out of the state budget.  Do you think they're going to forgoe federal incentives to collect support?  No way - they're going to step up their efforts.

They have never cared about the NCP's economic situation.  Why would they start now?

[Marsha]

I thought it was a bit more cut and dry than that.  If a dad loses his job, and goes back to child support court, he would get a cut in child support, but also be ordered to actively search for a job.  So if dad has to get a job making minimum wage, then the courts would simply impute that amount.

I do know my ex took our case back to cs court way back...he took a lesser paying job (all jobs through his family so oh well)...and the courts were totally fine with imputing his new wage.

Per dads' request, they also imputed my pt income as a housecleaner to full time.  Even though I have had doctors notes (at this court date I did not have a current enough one...it was over six months old...and my doctor did not specify exactly what she meant by I should work only pt due to numerous back injuries)so that I am imputed at way more than I actually make.

One thing I have never understood about child support is that they do not calculate how much of a mortgage or rent one pays.  One friend has got in a major jam...his mortgage went up...he was working his butt off at a high stress job, no vacations, etc...his ex had moved in with a man who makes big bucks...they take luxery vacations all the time...are now contemplating putting a pool in the yard.  This friend is understandably bitter...and I just don't get how come CA does not calculate into its child support imputations what money HAS to go out every month just to have a roof over the childs head?

Where I live, no one can touch a basic, no frills two bedroom house...for rent...for under $1400...and most one bedrooms are running at a minimum of $900 and up...thats if your lucky.  And folks here are getting laid off like anywhere else...I clean for a living and have lost several clients the past two years due to people having to foreclose on homes, etc.

Its not good.  Sorry so long.

[gemini3]

Just as a follow up - the economic incentive plan, according to an article in the WSJ, adds $1 billion to child support enforcement.

Go figure.

Here's a link to the article:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123509636945029173.html (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123509636945029173.html)

[awakenlynn]

DH got laid off at the factory he was working at so he moved into the carpentry field and is now an apprentice with the local union.  Winter hit and we lasted until the 1st week of January, he was one of the last of the company to lay off.  We were told they were hoping for spring, so figured he would be back to work later this month (March), then he heard from his apprentice mentor, who was the LAST to be laid off about 3 weeks ago and he was told it was looking like another 3-4 months before any work comes up.  So unemployment is about $200 less a week than his work checks, but our attorney said in TX they really wouldn't do anything because it was still temporary, and to tough it out and make what payments we can.  We had about $400 arrears when we transfered from IL to TX.  And now 2 months arrears from Jan and Feb 09.  We are trying to see if we could get it out of the unemployment checks, but DH has registered with a temp service.  So if he gets steady work there until carpentry starts back up then we will have it come out of his temp job, but even that is not guaranteed.  But we will start making little payments just to show good faith and they will have to accept that for now.

[Davy]

Awakenlynn,


but...but...but...but....hope...hope...hope...but...but

The question is will the family courts realize the ecomonic   Not your IL attorney.

What about the kids ? 

Do you think someone miles away should pay for 3 guys in Rockford, IL to lean on their shovels around a pot hole so they can pay goverment mandated so-called child support ??

[MixedBag]

And everyone who asks for a reduction etc and it doesn't work, needs to educate Dr. Phil on this subject. 

[Kitty C.]

I agree, MB!  Every time this comes up on his show, all he says is to take it to court and ask for a reduction or review.  Little does he know that it's never that simple........

[gemini3]

I just found out that, in some states, your child support is deducted from your unemployment compensation, based on the current order from when you were employed.  Even though everyone knows that UEC is much less than what you made when you were working!!

When you do get in to court for the modification (which is taking 2 or more months in some areas because of the back-log), you then have to give the new order to the unemployment people to change the deduction.

[Sherry1]

My son was an independant car hauler who worked for a company who's contract was with GM.  That should tell you how much his paychecks were, they were all negative for over two months.  He wasn't able to pay his CS.  Thankfully, his ex didnt hound him but I honestly believe she did do some research that if she went to DHS, all he would have to do is produce all his negative paychecks and she would probably have to pay him CS!