The California economic downturn has led many to speculate that people cannot afford to get a Divorce nowadays. While there is some evidence to suggest that this may be true, the incidents of Child Support Modification filings appear to be growing. Since Child Support is largely based on two factors: 1) Income and 2) time spent with Parent, the fact that many people in Los Angeles have either lost their jobs or are underemployed has led to a significant decrease in what people can afford to pay. As a result, people are now coming to Court to get much needed relief from Child Support payments that are based on incomes they are no longer earning.
Many times, there has been the feeling by one parent that the other parent is not working ON PURPOSE in order to not pay more Child Support. This led to the concept of Imputed Income, whereby many parents were held to the standard of what they should be making rather than what they were actually making. Nowadays, however, the common excuse of "I can't find a job!" has become far more believable. The trend of lowering Child Support Payments will likely continue in the same direction as the unemployment rate, which is 11.9% in California according to July 2009 statistics.
If you think your Child Support is no longer based on your actual earnings, you should consult a Los Angeles Family Law Attorney. Otherwise, you may soon be consulting a Los Angeles Bankruptcy Attorney instead!
