What To Do If You Can No Longer Afford Spousal Or Child Support

By Gerald A. Maggio, Esq.

Orange County divorce mediation; California Divorce MediatorsA common concern that often comes up after the declaration of a divorce judgment in the court is the spouse who has been asked to pay for spousal or child support declares his or her inability to do so any more. The aim of this article is to discuss the steps that should be taken if such an issue comes up.

Step 1: Go through the divorce decree thoroughly

While it is an obvious thing to do, there are several people who tend to overlook it. A divorce judgment is an extremely crucial document, which anyone such as the judge, litigant and attorney should examine carefully. It is a document that the basic framework to determine how to proceed.

There are some cases where the judgment was announced many years ago. In such cases, the support that is unaffordable can be already the unable. Hence, it is extremely crucial to read the language well especially in the section for spousal support or child support of the court judgment to find out the conditions, which could lead to an automatic censure of support. There could be also a particular end date to pay for support according to the judgment pronounced. When such conditions are specified, the spouse who has been paying may just stop paying for alimony or child support. You need to also conduct a proper review of the judgment for making sure whether your court has reserved its jurisdiction over matters related to spousal support or child support.

Step 2: Put your best foot forward to reach an agreement

Your next step should be to find out whether the issue can be settled informally without the knocking the doors of the court. In order to get it done, it makes sense to directly interact with recipient of your support and know whether they are comfortable with a possible reduction.

When you and the other party do not succeed in reaching an agreement, you may else take help from alternative resources of dispute resolution like family law judges who have retired or mediators specializing in family law. When you take such an initiative, there could be the formation of a confidential forum to resolve your disputes in a cost-effective and timely sinner instead of taking the matter to the court.

Step 3: Get set for your post-judgment litigation

In case you and the other party are unable to reach an agreement, the only choice left before you is to approach your Family Law Court to plead your case for a modification action on the judgment issued previously. The opposing party should receive a copy of such a motion.

To learn more about the divorce process in California and how mediation can help, please visit our page, What is Divorce Mediation