My wife is concerned

[joemcq51]

My wife has two children from a previous marraige. She was laid off a few years back when the child support was worked out. She was getting paid unemployment at the time. She has exhausted that unemployment and has taken a temp position to help pay the bills. Her ex was employed at the time of the child support agreement. Here is where it gets tricky. Her ex got laid off in November. He stopped paying child support. By his accounts, he said neither was working, so it was a wash. He has not paid her any money since that time. He is now employed again. He keeps telling her that they have to readjust the child support, but never does. She has a couple questions. 1st, is he responsible for the back support he just stopped paying? 2nd, how would her temp job figure into new support figures. It literally could stop any day? She is so stressed out, she is starting to get sick about it. The custody is supposed to be 50/50, but she has the kids 70% of the time. She is afraid if he gets a different job further away, he would try and take kids with him to pay less support. As a spouse who is sort of an outsider, it has become really hard to stand by and watch what is happening. I have a daughter from a previous marraige to, and we have zero issues. The child support comes out of my paycheck and everyone is happy. This just seems like her ex is bullying her around.

[Attorney Cheri Hobbs]

1. Unless either party files a Supplemental Petition to Modify child support the child support amount shall continue. She should contact the Department of Revenue Child Support enforcement to proceed on her behalf to collect the unpaid support.

2. It is not a wash (her ex would need to petition the court to temporarily stop or reduce child support which he did not).

3. She can use the child support Calculator on our webpage to get an estimate for the current child support.

4. If she is taking on more of the child care/rearing responsibility she should consider filing a Supplemental Petition to Modify Time Sharing and have the court create a new/better for the children time sharing arrangement with a new child support amount.

5. In the alternative she can file a Motion for Contempt/Enforcement in the underlying divorce case to address his non-payment of child support and not using his time sharing.