Child support orders are based partly on the child’s needs and partly on the paying parent’s income. When the paying parent’s income drops, due to job loss or other financial pressures, it can become impossible to live up to an old child support order. Falling behind in child support payments can cause terrible financial problems.
One particularly difficult child support dispute involves movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, who is undergoing a very public downfall after he was hit with a plethora of sexual harassment allegations. After the allegations came to the surface, Weinstein was fired from the production company he founded, along with his brother. Now, he faces a dispute over his child support obligations.
Weinstein’s first wife has demanded $5 million in child support be paid in lump sum. The couple were married for 17 years and had two children together. She claims to be entitled to this amount pursuant to their 2004 divorce settlement. According to her statements, he is now claiming to be broke and unable to pay child support for one year due to the costs of defending the current multiple allegations against him.
In child support cases of this magnitude, with such large sums of money at stake, a skilled attorney is essential. In some cases it can often take many years to find and obtain the funds for unpaid child support. Meanwhile, the children are left without the support they were promised.
Often in these situations, the custodial parent ends up making the difference himself or herself, or must rely on public assistance to meet the child’s needs. The state doesn’t want to spend taxpayers’ money to meet the needs of children whose parents can’t meet their obligations, and so states can be very strict in enforcing child support orders.
Parents whose economic circumstances have made it impossible to meet their child support obligations need to request a modification to their child support order. A request for modification is never a simple matter, but it can be especially complicated for business owners and others whose income can fluctuate wildly. A skilled attorney can help both paying and receiving parents with many issues related to child support.
Source:FoxNews.com, “Harvey Weinstein says he can’t afford to pay child support after sexual harassment scandal, says report,” Julia Marsh, Jan. 12, 2018
Post Type:News-Based
