Child support obligations for disabled parents

When Ann Arbor parents of young children end their marriages, the non-custodial parents will normally be ordered to pay child support. This is to ensure that custodial parents have the money they need to raise their children. A question often arises as to what happens if a noncustodial parent become disabled.

In such an event, the disabled parents might receive benefits to help them pay for expenses while they have a reduced ability to work. Disability benefits may come from a settlement, an employer or through the government via the Supplemental Security Income program.

If they have not been keeping up with their child support payments, their disability benefits are subject to being garnished. While SSI benefits cannot be garnished to pay debts or for taxes, child support obligations are taken so seriously that they can be garnished even if this will result in financial difficulty for the recipient.

When a couple decides to divorce, they normally can either decide to work together to come to agreements about issues such as asset division and child support, or they may decide to have the divorce litigated. This will involve having a judge make the final decisions on the applicable divorce legal issues, and the results may not provide the results either party was looking for. This is why many family law attorneys often encourage their clients to try and resolve the matters through negotiations. If that proves to be impossible, or if there are a few issues that are sticking points, attorneys might recommend mediation as an alternative to going to court.