Does child support stop if I lose my job in San Diego? The COVID-19 pandemic has brought substantial challenges for many payors of child support here in San Diego and across California. Facing a furlough, layoff or losing a job can impact your ability to pay all debts, including child support. What happens if you can’t afford to keep up with your child support payments?
Many people think it is fairly obvious that the answer to the question “does child support stop if I lose my job in San Diego?” would be “yes.” They would argue, “If you don’t have any money how can you be forced to pay child support?”
California law requires every parent to be financially responsible for the basic needs of their child including food, clothing, shelter, health care and education. If you miss child support payments for any reason, including unemployment due to the pandemic, there may be legal and financial ramifications.
The local child support agency is responsible for one thing: collecting child support. If you miss several payments the child support collection agency will pursue payment using every tool available to them under the law. These include but are not limited to:
- The ability to put a levy against your bank account(s)
- Seizure of tax refunds or any payment such as the recent $1200 stimulus check
- Attachment of a lien against any property you own
- Harmful report to credit bureaus lowering your credit scores
- Suspension of any professional license or contractors license
Does child support stop if I lose my job in San Diego? No, and you might want to know the child support collection agency can also garnish your unemployment benefits as well as any Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
If you have lost your job we invite you to contact the Certified Family Law Specialists at Burke & Domercq to discuss filing to request a temporary or permanent reduction in your child support.
Protect your own interests and contact us or call 760-389-3927 to schedule an appointment for a remote or socially distanced consultation with one of our experienced Certified Family Law Specialists.