Legal Question in Family Law in Arizona
support during maternity leave
I live in AZ my child and ex live in PA. I am going to be going on maternity leave in a few months. How will this affect my support obligation? Since I will not receive any wages during that time. Would I be able to have my support reduced for that period of time. Are will it just accumulate? I have always paid on time, never falling behind before. My divorce several yrs ago was quite nasty, my ex is extremely spiteful. I am very concerned about this.
thanks for any advice
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: support during maternity leave
You could file a Petition to Modify Child Support in the court which issued the divorce requesting that the child support be reduced during the maternity leave period, but I don't know whether the judge will do so. The usual standard for modifying support is a "substantial and continuing change of circumstances", and it is debatable whether this is "continuing". Other than having the Court enter an Order reducing the support, you cannot just lower it on your own, even if your ex-husband agrees to it. Therefore, your only option to effectively lower the support amount is to file a request with the Court, and serve your ex with the papers.