Non-custodial parent intentionally staying under-employed - Advice needed

[stealth2]

all senior members were at one time "non-regular".

Speak for yourself, red. Some of us have always been extraordinary.

 

[commentator]

The whole concept of "under employed" exes is one I've been thinking about for many years in working with employment issues. Really, how can you command, even from the court, someone to get a higher paying job? Even a degree doesn't mean there'll be a job available that will pay the person what she or he "should" be making. And just because a person at one point had a well paying job (which may have been a part of their initial attractiveness) does not ever indicate that they'll continue to earn at the rate they used to. This OP asks, will the court find that he's deliberately under employed and should work harder at finding something they could garnish, etc. I would say.....well, probably wouldn't be worth it, just IMHO.

It is possible, from a few things that are said in the post, that this ex has some problems with mental issues such as depression or addiction issues, or it might be that he's just chosen to live in an area where good jobs for persons with his qualifications are not readily available. It sounds as though he is doing something. If he "had his own business for many years" he may be getting older, which thought it's not supposed to be, is sort of killer for professional people looking for employment. I have seen former big earners who were reduced to Wal-mart greeter type things (back when they still had THAT position, which they don't anymore). All around you, you see many older people working at the box stores, as drivers, etc. And it's probably not their first choice just so they don't make much and won't have to pay their child support arrears.

He's paying some. I suspect that all these assignments aren't pleasant. It is possible that he's not getting call backs for interviews for better jobs, or that his interviewing, even if he's doing the best he can, is inadvertently not getting him hired/ placed. It's VERY subjective. You can't arrest someone for not being good enough on interviews to get hired, can you? Even the courts can't really dictate WHERE he lives and therefore he does his job searches, really. Who's to say he has to live in a state that pays bigger money? They're sure out there, some of them cost more to live in, too. His income level is more apt to cause him problems than anyone else (except perhaps the girlfriend who's mentioned.) I fear that if the ex pursues it, takes him back to court, it could turn out that the situation goes to less money for him to provide. She should consider this before taking such immediate action.

It's important to this situation that the ex keep working and keep paying even if it's not the full amount. Take punative action against him, and there's the chance you'll render him less able to pay. Its a cinch he's not going to get a good well paying engineering job with no driver's license or an arrest record. As I said, there's always that to consider.

 

[LdiJ]

The whole concept of "under employed" exes is one I've been thinking about for many years in working with employment issues. Really, how can you command, even from the court, someone to get a higher paying job? Even a degree doesn't mean there'll be a job available that will pay the person what she or he "should" be making. And just because a person at one point had a well paying job (which may have been a part of their initial attractiveness) does not ever indicate that they'll continue to earn at the rate they used to. This OP asks, will the court find that he's deliberately under employed and should work harder at finding something they could garnish, etc. I would say.....well, probably wouldn't be worth it, just IMHO.

It is possible, from a few things that are said in the post, that this ex has some problems with mental issues such as depression or addiction issues, or it might be that he's just chosen to live in an area where good jobs for persons with his qualifications are not readily available. It sounds as though he is doing something. If he "had his own business for many years" he may be getting older, which thought it's not supposed to be, is sort of killer for professional people looking for employment. I have seen former big earners who were reduced to Wal-mart greeter type things (back when they still had THAT position, which they don't anymore). All around you, you see many older people working at the box stores, as drivers, etc. And it's probably not their first choice just so they don't make much and won't have to pay their child support arrears.

He's paying some. I suspect that all these assignments aren't pleasant. It is possible that he's not getting call backs for interviews for better jobs, or that his interviewing, even if he's doing the best he can, is inadvertently not getting him hired/ placed. It's VERY subjective. You can't arrest someone for not being good enough on interviews to get hired, can you? Even the courts can't really dictate WHERE he lives and therefore he does his job searches, really. Who's to say he has to live in a state that pays bigger money? They're sure out there, some of them cost more to live in, too. His income level is more apt to cause him problems than anyone else (except perhaps the girlfriend who's mentioned.) I fear that if the ex pursues it, takes him back to court, it could turn out that the situation goes to less money for him to provide. She should consider this before taking such immediate action.

It's important to this situation that the ex keep working and keep paying even if it's not the full amount. Take punative action against him, and there's the chance you'll render him less able to pay. Its a cinch he's not going to get a good well paying engineering job with no driver's license or an arrest record. As I said, there's always that to consider.

You are of course right, but unfortunately there are some people out there who quit or deliberately get themselves fired from good paying jobs just to stymie efforts to collect child support from them. There are people out there who will tank their own financial lives just to avoid paying child support. Its sad, because not only do their children not get supported, but they tend to ruin their own lives in the process.

 

[commentator]

Wholeheartedly agree. Saw several of these court mandated job searchers through the years. As my grandma said, there are people who will cut off their own noses to spite their faces. But even if you have selected to have several children with someone who is like this, it probably won't be productive to haul them back to court and try to force them to find a better job. It doesn't really sound as though this person quit his job, he probably could convince a court that his business went down without his deliberate efforts to run it aground. And possibly that he is working at the best paying thing he can get right now. Net benefit for the trouble of going back to court? None. Potential to possibly have to pay less child support? It's there.