While you might have a decent job of your own, after a divorce, learning to live on one income can be difficult, especially if you have children. That is why the Oregon court allocates child support. The goal is to help enable you to take care of your children and provide things for them that they would have had access to if your marriage did not end.
Child support laws aim to do what is best for the children. At the same time, they also want to leave the parent who is paying enough money to afford his or her bills and expenses. However, some parents try to do things that would lower child support, which may make you a bit nervous about whether you will receive enough support to provide for your children. With that in mind, here are a few crucial points about child support that may help ease your mind
1. Your ex-husband cannot just stop working or reduce his hours
The Oregon Department of Justice explains that if your ex-husband stops working or reduces his hours so that he does not have to pay as much child support, the court can use the potential income to re-figure his contribution amount. The court will determine his potential earnings by looking at his past employment, skills, education and the current job market. This will provide the court with an amount of potential income that it will then use to calculate child support. The court also looks at more than just the past year’s earnings. If your ex-husband purposely made less or did anything to reduce his earnings, the court will likely discover it.
2. Income means many things
Sometimes people who have to pay child support try almost anything to reduce their income so that they do not have to pay as much. This is tricky because the court does not look at just earnings. It may also look into company perks, such as a car or a phone. These things reduce your ex-husband’s out-of-pocket expenses, so they factor into his income.
Whatever may happen, your ex-husband will not get off the hook for paying child support. The end of your marriage did not end his responsibility to take care of his children.