You may have negotiated or litigated for Alimony from your ex-spouse based on their income from work and the lifestyle you both enjoyed during your marriage. Your ex may also owe you child support. However, if your ex quits their job, what happens to your support? Can your ex stop making payments? Do they have grounds to ask the court to reduce or terminate their support obligations? Understanding what happens to support when a payor spouse quits their job can help you protect your and your children’s financial rights.
After a couple divorces, one spouse may have alimony and child support obligations. Alimony may be ordered to provide financial assistance to a spouse as they reenter the workforce or to balance a severe economic disparity between spouses. Child support obligations represent a parent’s duty to provide for their children’s financial needs.
Support orders from a court become legally binding obligations on a payor spouse. Those obligations remain in effect even when a payor spouse loses their job, whether due to voluntary resignation, retirement, layoff, or termination for cause. The obligation may be modified based on the specific circumstances, but a duty to continue paying remains until there is an agreement or a court order modifying the support.
Immediate Effects of Job Loss on Support
When a payor loses their job, the obligation to continue making support payments remains. The burden is on that individual to file for relief with the court to end or reduce their support obligation.
Exes who stop making support payments after quitting their jobs may face various legal or financial consequences, including accumulating arrears for missed payments. A recipient spouse may pursue enforcement actions to collect arrears for child or spousal support, including obtaining court orders for liens or garnishment of wages or Social Security benefits.
Legal Considerations and Modifying Support
A loss of employment may constitute “changed circumstances” which would warrant a change in the support order. However, the circumstances surrounding the loss of employment are very relevant to a court’s decision on whether to modify the order or not.
If the job loss was involuntary, through no fault of the payor, such as a layoff or the closing of a workplace, or if a payor leaves the workforce in good faith, such as due to disability or reaching retirement age, a court is likely to modify the support obligation based on the current circumstances of both parties. However, when a job loss is voluntary or due to the fault of the payor (i.e., fired for cause), the court is likely to “impute” income to the payor. This means that the court will pretend like the payor is still working at the job he left voluntarily and will assign them an earning capacity equal to what they had been earning at that job. The court may also similarly assign this earning capacity if a payor voluntarily leaves their previous job to take a lower-paying position.
Tips to Protect Yourself
Follow these best practices to protect your or your children’s financial interests:
- Keep records of all employment and income of the payor
- Question whether a job loss was voluntary or involuntary
- Consult an experienced family law attorney before negotiating or litigating changes to support orders
Contact a Family Law Attorney Today
If the other side quits their job, an experienced attorney can help you address problems that may arise, such as a risk that support payments may stop or be modified. Contact BKW Family Law LLC today for a confidential consultation with a family law attorney to discuss your legal options for protecting your and your children’s right to support payments.