Calculating Child Support When Your Ex Is Unable to Work

Dealing with child support isn’t always easy, especially when your ex is unable to work. Whether they cannot work due to disability, cannot find a suitable job, or simply refuse to work, you can still collect child support. However, you will need to do a little legwork yourself in order to obtain the payments owed to you. A San Antonio family law attorney can help you secure the child support you are entitled to based on the court order.

What considerations are taken into account when deciding child support?

There are a few considerations taken into account by the court when it issues an order for child support:

• The separate earnings/resources of each parent
• How many children the parent is supporting (either at home or from previous relationships)
• What kind of child custody order is in place
• Any additional legal support, like alimony, that has been ordered by the court

Both parents are held financially responsible for their children. This means that when you divorce, the court expects both parents to play an equal role in the financial wellbeing of the child. If one parent earns a higher income than the other, but both of you spend equal time with the child, the higher earner will be likely be required to make child support payments to the other parent.

When your ex is unable to work: modifying a child support order

If your ex is truly unable to work, most often because of a long-term illness or disability, you can modify the child support order. This is because modification largely requires a “material and substantial change” in circumstances. If your co-parent is unable to work, this would count as a material and substantial change. Examples could include:

• Being diagnosed with a specific disability. If your co-parent collects federal benefits, you are still entitled to child support; SSDI will be figured into the total earnings. If your ex is collecting Supplemental Security Income, however, he or she can ask to have that amount modified to $0.
• Sustaining a personal or work-related injury. Texas courts can use personal injury awards and workers’ compensation (when available) when calculating child support, but those awards can take time. Your co-parent may be able to request a modification for the time he or she has no income.
• Becoming a full-time caregiver. If your co-parent is a full-time caregiver for a sick or elderly relative or child, and he or she is no longer working, then yes – an order modification may be advisable.
• Taking unpaid maternity or paternity leave/FMLA. If your ex is on leave from his or her job and that leave is unpaid, he or she may request an order modification.
• Loss of a job. If your ex loses his pr her job and cannot find another, then he or she will likely try to modify the order.

What if my spouse is purposely underemployed?

As mentioned above, the parent with the higher income will likely be ordered to pay child support. However, what happens if your former spouse is purposely underemployed in an effort to avoid paying support? If this is the case in your situation, the court will be required to impute income upon that person.

This means that the court will calculate the earning capacity of the parent purposely reducing their hours at work or resigning from their position. Doing so helps prevent the parent from avoiding their responsibilities of paying child support. The court will look at the following when imputing income:

• The income earned by the parent during previous employment throughout their career
• The education history, recent employment experience, and job training of the parent
• The current mental and physical health of the parent
• How much work is available in the community close to where the parent lives
• The history of childcare responsibilities of the parent
• The financial records of the parent (savings accounts, retirement accounts, investments, and workers’ compensation benefits)
• Rental properties the parent refuses to rent out to lower their reportable income

How to enforce a child support order in San Antonio

The Texas Child Support Division of the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) takes these issues seriously, and can issue fines and take actions like putting liens on property or assets, garnishing wages, or suspending licenses.

If your ex continues to avoid working in an effort to not pay child support, you can enforce the child support order with the help of our San Antonio family law attorneys. First, we help you prove that your co-parent is purposely underemployed/unemployed as a way to avoid paying child support. We may do this through the use of financial statements, social media posts, and witness testimony. There are financial experts who can help, too, if your case warrants it.

Second, we can file a motion with the applicable court that shows your ex is in violation of a court order to pay child support. This order will request relief (outline the exact amount of child support you are owed). If the court sides with us, it can take many of the same actions that the OAG can take to ensure that you receive the support you deserve.

Do you have questions about acquiring child support from an ex who is unable to work? If so, speak with an experienced San Antonio family law attorney from Grable Grimshaw PLLC about your situation. Call our office or complete our contact form to schedule an appointment today. We serve clients throughout Texas who have family law issues that need to be resolved.