Can I Reduce My Child Support Payments After Losing My Job?

Paying child support can be a heavy burden even if you are fully employed. As a non-custodial parent with a child support obligation, the fact that two households are more expensive to maintain than one is a reality that you have to deal with every day. This reality becomes even harsher if you lose your job.

Why You Lost Your Job Matters

Did you lose your job involuntarily—through a layoff, for example? Did you quit? Were you fired for misconduct? Why you lost your job matters. If it was voluntary, Florida would not allow you to apply for a reduction in child support. You can only apply for a reduction if your job loss was involuntary. Sometimes the nature of an applicant’s job loss–voluntary or involuntary–is the primary issue in their application for a reduction in child support.   

Are You Eligible for a Review of Your Current Child Support Obligations?

You can seek a reduction in your child support obligations if:

  • Your current child support order will not end within six months, and EITHER
  • Your current child support order has been neither modified nor reviewed over the last three years; OR
  • You suffered a “substantial, permanent, and voluntary” change in circumstances that renders it more difficult or even impossible for you to pay your child support obligations at their current level. 

Involuntary unemployment likely qualifies as a substantial change in circumstances. However, even the involuntary loss of your job might not be enough to convince Florida to reduce your child support obligations. If you have other resources (assets or even earning capacity), the court may expect you to rely on these to pay your child support. 

What to Do, Step by Step

Assuming that the foregoing standards do not disqualify you from seeking a modification of your original child support order, you have two options for seeking a modification: 

  1. Apply to either the Ninth Circuit Court (if the child resides in Orlando) or the Child Support Program. Whichever of these (the court or the Child Support Program) applies to your case is referred to herein as the “decision maker” for ease of reference).
  2. Provide financial and certain other information to the decision maker so that they can review it. Provide as much documentation as you can.
  3. The decision maker will contact the other parent for relevant information.
  4. The decision maker will examine the petition from the point of view of each parent and, more importantly, from the point of view of the best interests of the child.
  5. The decision maker will convene a hearing that both parents can attend to argue for or against the modification of the order.    
  6. The decision maker will issue a ruling on your request for modification.
  7. The decision maker will mail a copy of the decision to each parent.

The process becomes considerably more complicated if the entity that issued the original child support order is from another state. In that case, cooperation between the two states will be necessary.

If Your Application is Denied: Penalties for Nonpayment

If the decision maker denies your application, don’t refuse to pay, regardless of how you feel about the decision. Willful refusal to pay can result in the seizure of your assets, interest charges, fines, jail time, and even prison time. Do the best you can to pay, and you should be able to avoid the worst of these consequences.

Retroactive Reduction of Child Support Obligations

Florida can neither eliminate nor reduce delinquent child support obligations from the past unless you are a male who proves that the child is not yours. Even then, Florida will hesitate to retroactively cancel child support obligations. 

Contact an Orlando Family Lawyer If You Seek Modification of Your Child Support Obligations

Considering the consequences of failure to pay child support obligations, it would be foolhardy to ignore them. It is also not a very good idea to attempt to modify your obligations without the help of an experienced Orlando family lawyer. The sooner you take decisive action, the better your chances for a favorable outcome.

Contact Our Child Support Law Firm in Orlando, FL

Contact the experienced Orlando child support lawyers at McMichen, Cinami & Demps today for legal assistance. Contact our Orlando, FL office at (407) 898-2161 to schedule a free consultation.

McMichen, Cinami & Demps – Orlando Office
1500 E Concord St
Orlando, FL 32803