It is scary. Mounting data suggests that the U.S. economy is heading into a severe economic depression. As of last week, over 30 million Americans have filed for unemployment insurance benefits. The vast majority of these claims are directly related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) public health safety crisis. On April 1, 2020, Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis issued a state-wide stay-at-home order closing all non-essential businesses until the middle of the week.

If you are a parent with existing child support obligation (meaning the responsibility to make child support payments by court order) you are probably especially vulnerable as loss of employment is not by itself sufficient to support a modification of a child support order. Under Florida child support law, child support orders may be modified so long as the change is between $50 or 15% of the child support amount being paid, whichever is higher.

The orders that can be modified include:

• A child support order from a divorce case.

• A child support order from a paternity case.

• A child support order established by the Florida Department of Revenue Child Support Enforcement Office.

If you are experiencing a change to your income because of coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions on work, you should consider seeking a modification or an abatement of your existing Florida child support order. An abatement is a temporary reduction or suspension of your child support obligation. It is important to note that Florida law requires that the change in income be permanent, substantial, material and unanticipated. If you are a W-2 employee, I suggest you apply for unemeployement to show that you are doing evething in your power to mitigate the reduction in income. If your existing child support order is from a state other than Florida, the process for modifying an existing child support order will be subject to the laws of the state that issued the initial order. Even though Florida courts are able to assist Florida residents with such circumstances, the law of the state that issued the initial court order will be used to determine any downward modification.

Family Division Status

All Family law judges and General Magistrates are working, conduting hearings and trials via zoom or telephone.

So, if you

For information about proceedings pending in Broward County, please visit www.17th.flcourts.org/coronavirus-covid-19-updates for updates on Broward County Court Operations.

Highly Experienced Child Support Lawyers Serving Broward County, FL. Call Now for a Telephone Consultation

If you are contemplating filing for a modification of your child support order, and wish to know your rights and eligibility for a downward modification of an existing Florida child support order, contact the Law Office of Dana Pechersky to schedule a telephone consultation. Si Ud. está considerando la posibilidad de pide una modificación de orden de manutención infantil, y quiere informarse acerca de cómo es la ley en la Florida y sus derechos, marca aquí.