What to Do When You Can't Afford Child Support Payments
If you make child support payments, preparing your finances with a budget is a vital element in managing your money and keeping things on track.
A divorce is never pleasant to families, but can you imagine being a parent with a child support payment of $115,000 a month? A-Rod can't afford that anymore — he's not a Yankee these days. Celebrity parent Charlie Sheen, of Two and a Half Men (and run-ins with the law) fame, owes $55,000 a month for his four minor children.
Different courts take different approaches to calculating child support payments. Many factors enter the equation. What is best for the child is the governing thought. However, many things can happen between the judges' order and writing the checks.
What do you do when you can't make the payments? Read on to learn more.
Start With a Monthly Budget
Getting into arrears is crushing. It's best to avoid state seizure of your assets or wage garnishment.
Lots of newly single parents find paying the bills and making ends meet tough. Court-ordered child support stretches paychecks even without other bills to pay. A budget helps you plan for payments.
Paper and pencil or Excel spreadsheet, get all of your bills, credit cards and receipts in order.
List Your Fixed Expenses
These are the things that happen every month, quarter or year. They are consistent each month (or quarter, or year). Break the quarterly and annual payments into monthly equivalents just for convenience.
Include things like rent or mortgage, property tax, insurance, and utility bills. Fixed expenses can include payments for past debts like student loans or regular monthly payments for the cable. Once you list all your monthly fixed costs, look for expenses that you can eliminate or reduce.
Do you really need to lease a 4 bedroom townhouse, or will a smaller apartment do? You can't get rid of property taxes, but maybe that unused gym membership can go. It's sometimes surprising how many small monthly charges add up.
Look at the Variable Expenses
These are expenses that vary month to month, like food, transportation, gifts or movies. Some expenses you can't eliminate, but you do have choices on how it's spent.
For example, cut your food expenses with coupons, cooking instead of going out, and limiting waste. To save on transportation, you may opt for carpooling or public transport instead of maintaining a car.
Budget Child Support Payments First
Now that you know how you spent your money in the past, create a budget you can live with for the future. Look at the income side of the equation. For discipline's sake, consider it your gross pay less child support and taxes.
Based on your collected information, figure out where your money needs to go. Factor in an amount to save for emergency expenses like a sudden health issue or a furnace failure in the middle of a snowstorm. Stick to your budget.
Problems arise when your budget isn't realistic. If your income is still insufficient, even with lifestyle changes, you need to make other changes.
Adjust the Income Side of the Equation
If you have room in your schedule, extra work might be the answer. Side gigs like Uber, Lyft, and TaskRabbit are flexible and allow you to continue your regular work. Get creative and look for ways to make your hobbies pay.
Love weekend baseball? Little League (and adult recreational leagues) pay umpires. Always on call to fix your parents' computers? Consider computer helpline work. Like parties? Take on bartending and catering gigs.
Part-time jobs may seem insignificant but can add some much needed "oomph" to your bottom line.
Sometimes There Isn't Enough to Go Around
Circumstances can change after a judge calculates a support order. If there truly isn't enough money to go around, prioritize child support. Always pay at least some child support you owe every month.
Even if you cannot afford the whole amount, a partial payment shows goodwill and an honest effort to place your children's welfare ahead of other demands. The penalties for nonpayment of child support are harsh. Partial payments can help you avoid jail or license revocation.
Modify Your Support Order
If your circumstances change, make a formal request to change child support. Use a child support calculator like this one for your state of residence to determine what a judge will consider reasonable.
A formal support modification request can be made by either party. For example, if a child develops a medical condition, or needs to change from a private school to a public school, the need for support changes.
If the basis for the original support order is materially different from your current situation, pay as much as you can each month. Reach out to your local Child Support Enforcement authority to request to change your order.
Even if the modification isn't granted, the request will be in your file. It shows effort.
Seek Assistance
Speak honestly with the affected party about the situation, so that the reasons for your non-payment or reduced payment are clear. Tensions on either side are counterproductive.
Document what and how your circumstances have changed since the original support amount determination. For a formal modification, you complete a legal document with information about changes to your income, savings, assets, etc. You may want to seek professional assistance.
If the reasons you cannot pay child support in full at this time are found reasonable, the state will usually attempt to create a payment plan. The state would rather settle for some original amount rather than nothing.
If the state reduces your payments and your circumstances change for the better, the expectation is that you resume full, on-time payments.
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Child support payments are just part of navigating a busy life. Check out our other information on saving money, navigating single parenthood and living a healthfully. You're in good company!