Child Support In the Face of Income Loss in Virginia

It is never easy losing a job. These feelings of frustration and stress become compounded when you are faced with the challenge of continuing to pay child support despite the loss of income.

A skilled child support attorney can help guide you through this and help you explore possible solutions. If you find yourself struggling to pay child support in the face of income loss in Virginia, speak with a capable lawyer who can devote the time and resources to give you the representation that you deserve.

Recently Acquired Income Deficiency Syndrome

This is an aspect of child support cases where family lawyers and child support lawyers can be helpful. Recently acquired income deficiency syndrome is a fancy phrase that is sometimes used to refer to a situation where a parent has recently lost a job or experienced a decrease in income. In these cases, the implication of such a phrase is that the loss of job or decrease in income was intentional, and done in anticipation of a child support case going to court, because the court is going to look at the party’s respective income and decide how much should be paid.

A child support attorney can be very useful in this situation because there is case law in Virginia that is very clear that allows the court to impute income to a party who is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed. If somebody has a child support case with this issue in it, it is important to make sure that they have the right evidence before the court that will help the court to make a determination that the other party has lost income or lost a job on a voluntary basis. Without the child support attorney, the child support amount is likely to be impacted negatively by the parent with the change in or loss of income.

An attorney is also more likely to probe into whether the income loss was strategic and intentional. There is a specific process that is enacted when one is investigating the validity of a person’s income loss. Although the impulse to go to court and allege that an ex-partner lost their job on purpose, there are certain procedures that need to be done that will give the court the ability to impute income. and that is a bit of a complicated process for somebody who doesn’t have the guidance of counsel so it’s important to have an attorney.

Information Necessary To Make Child Support Modifications

A person who is paying child support in the face of income loss in Virginia has the right to modify child support in certain circumstances where perhaps costs for the child have gone down or other financial circumstances have changed that would warrant a reduction in their child support obligation.

In order to make a child support modification, it is necessary to present to the court evidence of what the financial circumstances where at the time that the last child support was entered and evidence of what the current circumstances are in order to be able to show the court that there has been a change in financial circumstances since the date of the last order. Assuming that the financial circumstances that have changed warrant a modification of support in the eyes of the court, then the court will modify according to whatever the financial change has been.

Hiring a Lawyer

It is important when hiring a child support lawyer to ensure that the attorney has a lot of experience in the area of child support because there are some nuances to it.  Especially in situations where paying child support in the face of income loss in Virginia becomes an issue. Parties will be better served if they have a knowledgeable lawyer who has experience with handling cases where individuals experience the loss of their income or are requesting child support from a partner who has lost their income. If you have lost your job and are having difficulty paying child support, discuss your options with an attorney.