What Happens to Child Support Payments if I Lose My Job?

 Posted on February 22, 2024 in Child Support

When you first arranged your divorce settlement, there were so many things that you and your ex needed to work out: Where would your children live? How often would each of you see them? Will either pay the other alimony? Who can make important decisions on your child’s behalf?  How much child support will you need to pay? What are you supposed to do if things in your life have changed from the way they were back then? If for example, you make monthly child support payments to your ex and now you are unemployed, are you expected to keep making those payments somehow? For answers to these and more questions, you can speak with a Skokie, IL divorce settlement lawyer.

Can I Be Granted a Child Support Modification in Illinois?

Under certain circumstances, it is legally acceptable to modify aspects of a divorce decree, including those that refer to child support payments. For example, if the paying spouse has unexpectedly and involuntarily experienced a loss of income, whether the income has stopped altogether or decreased significantly, this would be considered a reasonable case for someone to seek a divorce decree modification. If you quit your job, this would not be considered unexpected or involuntary. If you have chosen to leave your job and thus lose your income as a result, this is not considered appropriate grounds for seeking a modification.

Although your specific scenario might be a situation that would almost definitely be granted a divorce decree modification, it is imperative that you make no changes to the child support payments until otherwise authorized to do so by the court. The court will begin a process of reviewing your financial history, including examining the income you were earning at the time that your divorce was settled and comparing it to what you are earning now. Additionally, like with many other court processes, it can take some time for the court to finalize its review and grant its approval. If you are not approved to stop paying and you have already stopped, you can be fined and face other negative consequences. If you are approved, however, this approval will apply retroactively on any payments that you transferred from the moment you appealed for this modification until it was granted.

Contact a Cook County, IL Child Support Modification Lawyer

If a recent and unexpected job loss finds you unable to afford to make your child support payments, you should speak with an experienced Chicago, IL divorce decree modification attorney. At The Law Offices of Curtis Bennett Ross, L.L.C., we offer free limited consultations, so call us at 312-984-1514 and see how we can help you move forward.