by Bruce L. Dorner
The economic climate has changed greatly over the past few years. I’m seeing more families in financial distress due to job cuts, unemployment, and increases in daily living expenses. If you’re divorced and paying child support, you’re probably feeling the stress more than others. If you’re receiving child support, you’re probably wishing you had a few more dollars to help the kids with those extra items that keep popping up. Parents are reluctant to say “no” to their child, but economic reality often presents no alternative.
If both parents are feeling the stress, it’s probably a good time to sit down and review the numbers. If both parents are employed and there have been no significant changes in income, then the likelihood of an adjustment is limited. If you’d care to check the figures for yourself, the State has provided an on-line child support estimator at this link. This is often a useful tool to compute a baseline figure from which any necessary or agreed adjustments can be made.
On the other hand, if one of the parents has been terminated from work and can’t find a new job, what should be done? Don’t wait. Notify the other parent of the problem. Don’t expect that the new job will magically appear and there will be no financial distress. Even missing one or two paychecks can cause significant pain in most families. Missing one or two child support payments never enhances communication between divorced parents. Be honest with each other.
Next, the parent who has lost the job has the obligation to notify the court of the problem and to ask for an adjustment during the period of non employment. If you don’t ask the court for help, you don’t get it! The longer you wait, the more pain you will endure. As an example, let’s assume Dad got laid off on February first. He didn’t tell Mom and he figured he’d have another job in a week or two. On March 15th Dad is still unemployed, actively looking, and panicking as to where he will get money for food for himself, let alone to pay child support to Mom. Mom says, “I’m sorry you are out of work, but the kids have to eat and I need the money.” Dad doesn’t pay and Mom goes to court asking the judge to hold Dad in contempt for violating a court order. Dad is on the short end of the stick.
On the other hand, if Dad went down to the courthouse during the first week of February and filed for a temporary adjustment in child support, at least he’d have taken an affirmative step to protect his own financial condition. The court probably would not hold a hearing for at least a few weeks, but any order issued could be made effective as of the date Dad filed the request with the court. Clearly, this is a far better situation and sitting back and waiting for the court to issue a finding of contempt against Dad for nonpayment. As always, it’s a good idea for both parents to consult with an attorney in these circumstances to sort out workable alternatives and achieve the best solution under difficult conditions.
Regardless of unforseen circumstances, either party may request a review of child support every three years. For those who like to do their own research, the statute is RSA 458-C:7. Again, you may want to run your own child support estimate just to figure out if there is likely to be an increase or decrease in support.
Another item of concern to many families is payment for dance or music lessons and extracurricular activities. Often the parties agree to share this expense. Our State Supreme Court has issued a ruling on this point. They have indicated “that extracurricular activity expenses are part of the basic guidelines.” This indicates that such expenses are part of child support and not an extra item to be paid above the child support amount. Therefore, it would be prudent for the parent receiving child support to budget carefully for these items. The court case involved the Coderre family. The opinion was issued on September 30, 2002. This case also addressed some other issues, including payment of uninsured medical expenses for the children. If you’d care to read the case it can be found at this link.