Child support payments after a divorce will need to be made obligingly. These things cannot be negotiated. What happens if I lose my job and am unable to make child support payments? Courts in Michigan won’t know unless you tell them. You signal to them by filing a motion.
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You can request that your attorney file a motion on your behalf or submit one on your own to suspend or change child support. It will be halted or altered by the court. There will be another motion to reinstate the child support payments if you find employment and your income increases. Act right away and submit the necessary motions; don’t wait until your responsibilities are in arrears.
The Truth About Child Custody
The original intent of the child support program was to cut down on the costs associated with the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program through a federal-state cooperation. AFDC served as the main method of providing financial assistance to families with children from 1935 until 1996.
The AFDC-dependent children of noncustodial parents, the majority of whom are fathers, were paid child support through the child support program. However, this assistance was utilized to pay back the government for AFDC subsidies rather than going to children.
For instance, if a court mandated that a parent pay $100 in child support each month to a home that also received $100 in AFDC funds, the state would keep the whole $100 in child support payments and would split the rest with the federal government. The “welfare cost recovery” initiative is still in place today: Although many states now distribute a part of these funds to custodial parents and children, an estimated $1.38 billion in child support was retained by the government in 2021.
Under President Gerald Ford, the U.S. child support collection system was established in 1975.
This method of cost recovery essentially makes low-income, non-custodial parents pay back the government for the meager cash assistance their children receive, giving neither parents nor children any financial security.
In the state of Michigan, child support payments are made through the Michigan State Disbursement Unit, or MiSDU.
Child Support Is Non-Negotiable
Of all the contentious aspects of divorce, it is child support where the court is not inclined to negotiate. Child support is a non-negotiable discussion in which you cannot opt out unless you opt to lose parental rights.
The state and the federal government have an efficient system in place to ensure parents obligated to make child support payments actually make them. If you look at the 2021 data, you can discern how effective this system is in ensuring child support payments are collected and delivered to its recipients.
The collection and enforcement methods for child support include:
[1] Income withholding. Employers withheld child support from parents’ wages for a total of $907.7 million in 2021.
[2] New hire reporting. Employers reported hiring an average of 221,647 new employees every month in 2021. Child support enforcement and location operations can benefit from new hire reports.
[3] Financial institution data matching. By freezing or seizing financial assets, a total of $8.1 million was obtained.
[4] Income tax refund intercepts. $105 million (7.2% of total revenues) was obtained through intercepting income tax refunds. 10% of intercepts were from state returns, 90% from federal refunds.
[5] Other enforcement methods. In addition, parents who disregard child support orders risk having their passport applications or renewal denied, having their credit histories disclosed, being subject to a civil contempt case, or even being prosecuted as a criminal.
This data tells you how the enormity of child support is being addressed by both state and federal governments. Because of the resources being provided to ensure child support gets to its recipient, it sends a clear message that child support is not an optional discussion in divorce cases.
You Lost Your Job, What Now?
You lost your job, you’re thinking maybe you don’t have to pay for child support anymore. Right? Wrong! The court will find another way to make you pay. You may want to be creative and probably choose a source of income providing lower pay to avoid paying more or not paying at all.
Before you become creative on your child support avoidance plan, try to understand how the courts determine child support.
Imputing Income Even Without Visible Source
The judge may assess that somehow a parent has the capacity to earn more if they chose to cut or eliminate their income. The judge may determine support amounts and issue orders based on imputed (possible) income in this situation. The judge’s determination of the parent’s earning capacity is known as the parent’s “imputed income.” It is not the amount of income actually earned by the parent
The court will take into account the following when estimating the parent’s future income:
[1] Experience in previous jobs and employment history, as well as any grounds for termination or job changes.
[2] Educational background and any specialized knowledge or expertise
[3] Physical and mental impairments that could make it difficult for parents to find or keep productive employment.
[4] Being available for employment.
[5] The availability of employment opportunities in the neighborhood.
[6] The average hourly wages and the amount of available work in the neighborhood.
[7] Diligence in their pursuit of suitable jobs.
[8] Proof that the parent is able to earn the income being imputed.
[9] Personal background information, such as current marital status, means of support, criminal history, driving skills, and access to transportation, etc.
[10] Any material decrease in income since the time before the initial complaint or the petition for amendment was filed.
[11] The impact of having the parties’ kids live with one parent on that parent’s income.
Now it’s a whole new dimension if you actually lost your job because of a retrenchment or you were laid off during let’s say a pandemic or you sustained an injury.
A Motion to Show Cause may be submitted by the Payee or a Friend of the Court in the event that the payer defaults on payment and income withholding is ineffective or not an option. The payer may be put in contempt of court if the judge finds that they are capable of paying all or part of the debt. The most frequent sanctions for contempt are jail time and fines.
Check your unemployment benefits.
So, if you are out of options and you just lost your job, try seeking out unemployment benefits. Of course you have to be eligible for any type of the unemployment benefits. In some cases, even if you were fired from your work, you can still be qualified for benefits.
However, you won’t be eligible for unemployment benefits if you leave your job voluntarily or cut back on your hours. Additionally, the court might rule that you are attempting to avoid paying your kid the necessary support, in which case you would not be eligible for a reduction in child support payments.
Even in the most ideal situation, job opportunities will not come your way easily nor will any state benefits. Your next obvious option is to ask the court to modify your child support payments.
Inform the court and ask for child support modification.
Hearings for modification may reduce the amount of child support you must pay.
Modifications are not retroactive in Michigan. This means that your financial assistance won’t be reduced the moment you lose your job. If you are entitled to a support payment reduction, it will only be effective as of the day your petition for adjustment was submitted.
If there has been a material change in the circumstances, modifications may be permitted. Examples comprise:
[a] Income changes that are significant
[b] Inheritance or prize money
[c] Assistance for more children
[d] A child’s illness or demise
The court may decide that you can postpone child support payments for a set length of time depending on your particular situation. Simply put, delaying the payments till a later time is what is meant by suspending them. They remain intact. The amount of the support payments may also be decreased, if necessary.
Notify the court and the parent who has primary custody of your children as soon as possible if you lose your employment. If you need to ask for a modification of your support order, knowing you’ve lost your employment is on record may be helpful.
It will be unfortunate that the pressures of unemployment will be made even worse by the piling up of arrearage in child support.
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Goldman & Associates Law Firm is here to with information about Child Custody and Divorce in the State of Michigan.