Child Support — Modification of Attorney in Los Angeles, California
Post Judgment Modification of Orders: My ex lost his job. Can he lower his support obligation if he’s not actively looking for work?
Post Judgment Modification of Orders: My ex lost his job. Can he lower his support obligation if he’s not actively looking for work?
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On occasion someone will come to see us and inform us that their spouse lost a job and is seeking to modify child or spousal support. The court does allow modification if there’s been a change in circumstances. If one spouse legitimately lost their job, then the court’s going to ask that spouse to go out and try and find a job and use good faith efforts to achieve employment. If a spouse has manufactured the loss of a job, courts have the ability to impute income, just as if that person happened to be working. And the court will look into the motivation as to why the job was lost. If it was a legitimate loss of job, the court will give the spouse time to find a job but order the spouse to make a good faith effort to achieve employment.
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Los Angeles, CA family law attorney Robert W. Eisfelder talks about whether someone can lower their support obligation after they’ve lost their job. He explains that sometimes, individuals approach us with concerns about their ex-spouse losing their job and seeking modifications to child or spousal support. The court does allow for modifications if there has been a significant change in circumstances. If the loss of employment is genuine, the court will expect the unemployed spouse to actively seek new employment and make genuine efforts to secure a job. However, if it is determined that the job loss was intentionally fabricated, the court has the authority to impute income to that spouse as if they were still working. In such cases, the court will carefully examine the reasons behind the job loss. If the job loss is found to be legitimate, the court may grant the unemployed spouse a reasonable amount of time to find new employment, while also requiring them to make sincere efforts in their job search.
