Ex Quit his job and asked for modification

[tmerwin10]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Massachusetts


My Ex of 14 years quit his job in June because his employer wouldn't give him time off to stay home and take care of his girlfriend after she had surgery. Within a week of quitting he filed for a modification of his child support because he "lost" his job. He is not collecting unemployment. He has told my oldest daughter (17) that he is not going to look for a job because he is going to work for himself. He is a licensed journeyman plumber and I am sure he is "working for himself" for cash.
What are the chances that the court will reduce his support to the minimum amount because he has no income? He has made one $100 voluntary payment since June and is in arrears close to $1000 at this point.

 

[Antigone*]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Massachusetts


My Ex of 14 years quit his job in June because his employer wouldn't give him time off to stay home and take care of his girlfriend after she had surgery. Within a week of quitting he filed for a modification of his child support because he "lost" his job. He is not collecting unemployment. He has told my oldest daughter (17) that he is not going to look for a job because he is going to work for himself. He is a licensed journeyman plumber and I am sure he is "working for himself" for cash.
What are the chances that the court will reduce his support to the minimum amount because he has no income? He has made one $100 voluntary payment since June and is in arrears close to $1000 at this point.

He is voluntarily underemployed. The judge should see right through that, but only they will know once all the facts are presented.

 

[tmerwin10]

update

He had his day in court. He stated that he quit his job to start his own business and that he wanted to pay the minimum amount of support allowable because he wasn't making any money yet. Basically the judge asked him if he was aware that he had a child support obligation prior to making the decision to quit his job. He replied that he did know that he needed to pay support. The judge's decision was to dismiss my Ex's request for modification since if he had just kept the job he had he wouldn't have had any trouble paying the ordered amount of support. The up side is, the order remains the same, the down side is that the deadbeat is still not paying it.

 

[Silverplum]

Please stick to your own thread, thanks.

stuff that has nothing to do with the poster's thread...

 

[mistoffolees]

He had his day in court. He stated that he quit his job to start his own business and that he wanted to pay the minimum amount of support allowable because he wasn't making any money yet. Basically the judge asked him if he was aware that he had a child support obligation prior to making the decision to quit his job. He replied that he did know that he needed to pay support. The judge's decision was to dismiss my Ex's request for modification since if he had just kept the job he had he wouldn't have had any trouble paying the ordered amount of support. The up side is, the order remains the same, the down side is that the deadbeat is still not paying it.

Just be thankful the judge saw through it.

What are you doing for collection? Have you turned it over to the state CSE agency? They can do some things that you wouldn't be able to do. In particular, in many states, he could lose his plumber's license.

 

[tmerwin10]

My support has been collected via the CSE for 14 years. At this point, as of 10/04 they will begin enforcement actions, driver and plumber license suspension and bank match. They had to give him 30 days notice to address the arrears prior to taking any action, that notice was sent on 9/03

Thank you for your response