Child support payments are often required for the spouse who has full custody of the child or children. These payments often come in monthly to cover the living costs of the child. They continue until the child turns eighteen. But what happens when you lose your job that pays for child support? A good attorney will come in handy to advise you on the next step to take.
File a petition
While losing your job can be depressing, you need to sort your child support payment issues out quickly. The next day after the job loss, you should petition the court to suspend or modify the amounts you need to pay monthly.
To do this, you can use a child support attorney or visit the family court that gave the order in the first place. The process may differ slightly depending on which state you’re located in, but most involve a form that will be sent to your mail or picked up in person.
Get a reduced payment plan
The result of your petition would likely be a chance to pay less monthly during the transition period. The court will determine the modified amount after examining the case. However, you need to note that it may take a longer time to get the petition approved.
However, the court will consider your request if you submit a petition early enough.
Failing to file can be dangerous
So what happens if you just ignore the payments because you’re out of a job? Ignoring does you no good in the circumstances because the payments continue to pile up and when you do get another job, you’ll pay even more money.
Despite your circumstances, a judge cannot waive the payment if they accrue. So, it is important to inform the court quickly. Also, it could be problematic if you’re not able to get a job that pays as much as the last one. This is why you need proper legal representation from a child support attorney.
Problems you may face without an attorney
Lots of things can go wrong if you ignore child support payment, regardless of your job circumstances. For one, you could lose your driver’s license, making it even more difficult to land a job.
However, you can get the license back because the court only restricts it to get your attention. Some people worry that they may need to pay the entire child support sum before recovering their license, but that’s not the case.
The court will usually increase the payment by up to 20% extra. For instance, if your payments were $500 per month, it may be bumped up to $600 so you can pay it off quickly. Having a child support attorney for this process can make it move faster and better.
If your child’s other parent goes to family court, you may also be hit with garnishment proceedings that inadvertently affect your credit score.
So avoid any potential issues by filing a petition quickly and working with a well-versed lawyer.
