my husband and I live in north carolina. he has had a child support order since 1998 and paid it on time as ordered. his son's grades dropped and his mother allowed him to live with us for a year. she didn't want to pay any expenses to us for keeping him and to keep it from going to court she agreed that he would not have to pay her for the next year after their son moved back in with her. my husband started paying her again at the beginning of the year 6 months before their verbal agreement was up. he has lost his job and has not been able to find another, he also attends college full time and will have to do unpaid training as part of the degree program beginning in may. he told her he wanted to modify the order temporarily but now she is planning to sue him for arrears for the time their son lived with us until now. what can we do? can our child support be modified under the circumstances? can she recieve arrears? she works part time and is also attending college.