Sister and her husband both laid off

[kelly001]

My sister and her husband(he has two children) from earlier marriage just both lost their jobs. He said he is going to stop paying his child support, but i told them it has to be done the legal way. Can someone tell me what forms need to be completed in order to motion the court to change/reduce or stop the support until they are both working again. Any info would be greatly appreciated. I think they need to fill out a general motion(form 8) and a financial statement and then the motion to change, but just wanted to make sure it was these three forms.

[mcdreamy]

Isn't the local Tim Horton's hiring? Geesh.

[kelly001]

This just happened last week and he was the plant manager making a very high income and my sister was laid off due to lack of work. The company is basically in financial trouble. There is no way he will be able to replace the income he was making as he was in an executive position. Even if he goes to work at Tim Hortons, he would still need to reduce his support. Your answer is not helpful at all and seems argumentative.

[Berner_Faith]

He can't just decide to stop paying support... if the children lived with him would be stop supporting them? Best bet is to first try to speak to the ex about what has happened...try to come to a common ground with her first, are the children in day care? Is he close enough to watch them so they don't have to attend daycare? You need to make a few offers to his ex first...if she is unwilling then apply to the court to have the CS reduced... however, he will still have to pay some support and even if he is not making what he was, he should get some sort of job, he can't have $0 income.

His ex could choose to impute his income to either min wage OR to what he is capable of making...which is most likely what she will try to do seeing as he was in a very high paying position.

[HammerDad]

He may receive a temporary reduction in c/s, and his best bet of getting this done quickly is to negotiate with his ex.

He will need to be able to show he is making every effort to find comparable employment. His job loss was not his doing. Chances are, he received a compensation package due to the lay-off. If he did, he will have to rely on that and take that amount into consideration for support.

In the mean time, he should:

a) send a request to his ex to temporarily halt or reduce c/s due to the job loss.

b) if she doesn't agree, request they go to mediation on the topic.

c) if they still can't come to an agreement, he needs to file a motion in court.

He will also need to find a job doing something ASAP. If it is Timmies while he looks for more meaningful work, that is what he has to do. But he should also show the courts that it is temporary and that he is actively seeking more meaningful employment. This will show that he is being reasonable and making all efforts to mitigate the situation.

[kelly001]

Originally Posted by Berner_Faith

He can't just decide to stop paying support... if the children lived with him would be stop supporting them? Best bet is to first try to speak to the ex about what has happened...try to come to a common ground with her first, are the children in day care? Is he close enough to watch them so they don't have to attend daycare? You need to make a few offers to his ex first...if she is unwilling then apply to the court to have the CS reduced... however, he will still have to pay some support and even if he is not making what he was, he should get some sort of job, he can't have $0 income.

His ex could choose to impute his income to either min wage OR to what he is capable of making...which is most likely what she will try to do seeing as he was in a very high paying position.

If the children were living with him, there standard of living would go down, just like my sister and her kids standard will now go down. I am not trying to say that he shouldnt support his children, i am asking what forms are necessary for him to lower his support until he can replace the income he was making or whatever his new income will be when he finds a job. He received 10 weeks in compensation. His ex is absolutely horrible to deal with and from past expereince, i seriously doubt she will agree to anything, she is currently suing him for past support and suing him for life insurance which he cant get because he has severe diabetes and cant afford the monthly premiums. Believe me when i tell you she is a horrible person. The kids dont talk to him (they are 17 and 14) because she has turned them against him.

[limer]

In ontariocourtforms.on.ca motions to change a final order are Forms 15A thru D. To change from interim it would be Form 15. He will have to prove undue hardship.

[billiechic]

no he will not have to prove undue hardship unless he claims it. He has a right to ask for a CS reduction. And imputing an income may be possible, but she would have to prove that he is intentionally underemployed, and that there are plenty of jobs available at his former pay range, requiring the qualifications he has. Given the state of the economy, and the fact that hjis company is struggling, I doubt very much that will be an easy feat.

[kelly001]

Originally Posted by limer

In ontariocourtforms.on.ca motions to change a final order are Forms 15A thru D. To change from interim it would be Form 15. He will have to prove undue hardship.

Thanks for the info. He doesnt want to spend money on a lawyer due to the situation he is in, so i wanted to help gather the necessary forms required to do this himself.

[Berner_Faith]

I still feel he needs to speak to his ex first...even if she is difficult... if he doesn't have the money to pay, is he going to be able to afford to go to court over this?