Can an ex husband stop paying child support because he is currently unemployed?

Question

what if he remains unemployed forever?!

this is my sister's situation. She works and supports herself very well and her child but i think his dad still has to contribute to his son!

joey k - i am sorry for your sad life. you seem a real sad person.
i'll pray for you.

Answer 1

I believe for the time being he can, but his tab will run up and he will go into arrears (spell check :) Doesnt seem right, HUH!!! But I guess if you dont have the money you cant pull it out of your..... :)

Answer 2

That is a question for the court to decide, and that's where your relative should go. In some circumstances he can avoid paying child support temporarily - but he'll have to make it up once employed. And in most jurisdictions, a judge can order him to jail if he does not get a job quickly. That's done frequently here in New York state. Nor does fleeing the state help; a judge can level charges and have the dude arrested in the state where he's trying to hide and brought back home and put in jail! And that's no picnic - not with people as mean as me running the jails!

Answer 3

ok heres the thing, if dad is unemployed child support doesnt stop, he can get a stay. which means they cant put it on hold until he finds a job(no more than a month) but he still has to pay. child support does not stop unless the parent that is not paying request payments stop. which most of the time doesnt work unless they prove they are back together. anyway, my sons dad owes child support and he hasnt paid anything for years and years. it continues to rise and will never stop until my son it out of college. even after that he will still owe it until he pays it off. my son will probably be trying to collect until he dies because my loser of an ex will not pay. so to answer your question no it will not stop. the courts can throw him in jail for a few days to make him pay and take away his drivers license for a lil while too. but that about it. I ahve done both and he still refuses to pay. (i think he like it in there)
good luck.

Answer 4

You can't get blood out of a stone. As unfair as this seems... how can he pay if he has no income?

having said that...is he REALLY unemployed or working under the table as many dead beat dads do? You may need to do some investigating.

I do ask you to consider one thing though...go get that support out of him if you can as you deserve to have it for your child but please don't be like so many women and suck him so dry he can not afford to support himself either. So many women are so vengeful that they get greedy and then the men hide income because they honestly can't afford to live after paying the support. i am not saying it is okay to be dead beat dad IT is not.But it is not okay to leave a man practically homeless so that he can not be a good father in ever other way either.Put your child first and make sure that dad gets equal time with your child( unless he is abusive or something of course) If he is a good father..or at least a reasonable father, then you are giving your child more by asking for less child support and getting along with your ex than if you get lots of cash but dad is so strapped that he is never around. Only you know the true situation. please think about it. You know if something needs to change.

If the guy is just plain and simply a dead beat jerk then i wish you the best in getting what you deserve out of him for your child.

Answer 5

Check other avenues for collecting the money: tax lien, lien on his house or other possessions like a car, boat, bank account, house, stocks, bonds, etc. If he has some way to live (unless he is mooching off of someone else) without a job, chances are that he as savings or a substantial source of other income that you don't know about. It may be worth hiring a private investigator to help you discover these things. If you think he has substantial assets, it may also be worthwhile to hire an attorney. If he doesn't have any assets and does not work, you may have no practical way to enforce the judgment against him (as horrible as that is). Good luck!

Answer 6

i believe he is still charge with it and will owe it if he ever gets a job but if he works under the table then you will have a very hard time getting it my friend for the last 11 years has not gotten a dime of her child support for 3 kids because her ex husband has only worked under the table his girl friend bought "their" house with his money in her name only they drive cars that are all in her name and he does not marry her after 9 years so his ex cant get any of it so hopefully it will not go this way for you but he does not work and they just tell her if he is not working they cant get blood from a stone so they cant really do anything! they have made him do things like job shops where he has to go several times a month and fill out applications but when he goes he goes for jobs he does not qualify for and when he goes he does not shower or wear nice clothing so no one ever calls him back but he is complying with the court so then they back off hes clean cut and does construction work under the table on his own and makes good money doing handyman stuff and putting in patios and stuff for people while there is nothing she can do!

Answer 7

I think they have to pay 20% of their network income, so you could take money out of what hes living off of... i.e. Unemployment.

However, if you have it fixed (which some men do, so that if they win the lottery or get a pay raise, the monthly ammount doesnt go up, its security) then he will still have to pay you the ammount.

I am unsure how exacally it goes in the USA though, thats how it is in Canada. And in Switzerland, my spouse had to pay the full ammount even when he was unemployed or he wasnt allowed to see his kids. And once he did get a job they would take it out of his paycheck until he took back the months he missed.

Answer 8

No, he can not. No matter what his situation he must pay that child support even if it means he goes hungry and homeless. As for not having a job, the State will force him to get a job or go to jail. And they will get him. Unless it's like Ohio where the ones who refuse to pay get out of it, and the ones who do pay get hammered. Or he moves to Arizona where they don't recognize other states' child support and custody agreements.

Answer 9

i agree joey is an idiot!
on the other hand,.........
I'm sick of the guys who work for me telling how the baby has no diapers and no formula,.....he's in jail again for not paying 150 bucks a week for ONE KID! and she's got a closet full of fucxxxx shoes!
WHAT'S UP WITH THAT!?
No,.....he has to pay child support weather he works or not.
OR
be looking for work or face jail time in most states.
while unemployed,.....the balance accumulates.

Answer 10

No offense but HOW is he to pay for child support if he has no job? He has to support himself first, when he gets a new job then he will have to pay back child suuport plus regular monthly payments.
When you get divorced the child support is supposed to be shared by both parents, the money paid by the dad in most cases isn't to cover all the expenses on its own, you sister needs to buck up and care for the kids financially.

Answer 11

if he gets an unemployment check the money will come from that. if he doesnt the people at child support will charge him for every month he doesnt pay plus interest. this will go into arrears. when he does get another job he has to pay the regular plus back support. they can also go after his tax refunds,put leins on his property-future property etc.