The Houston Family Law Blog


Unemployment and How It Affects Child Support Payments

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How does unemployment affect child support payments? Reading Eagle reports that around the country, estranged parents are requesting for child support payments to be lowered  because they aren't seeing as much income at this time as they did before.

In fact, Texas family law attorneys say that it's not exactly uncommon for parents to be paying child support with their unemployment checks. At the Berks County Domestic Relations office in Pennsylvania, Domestic relations director Linda F. Epes told the Reading Eagle that the number of parents coming into the office in order to reduce child support payments has increased 64 percent since the economic downturn started in 2007.

"We have to modify the orders because parents are earning less," Ms. Epes said. "We are very respectful of our clients. We don't want to put people in jail. It benefits no one to have an order for a support that is too high to get collected."

In the state of Texas, modifying child support payments can be a difficult process. However, courts can change the amount of monthly child support payments based on certain circumstaances. Either parent may request the court to change the support order up until the time the child turns 18. Divorce Law Texas reports that if one parent's income has changed (either gone up or down) by at least 25 percent, it is considered a big enough change to require a change in the support order. Any Texas residents that have questions about lowering their child support payments should contact one of the state's many Texas family law attorneys.

Related Resources:

  • How Much Child Support: Guidelines (FindLaw)
  • State-Specific Child Support Information and Guidelines (FindLaw)
  • Texas Family Law Attorneys Directory (FindLaw)

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