Child and Spousal Support During Covid-19April 15, 2020
About the only certainty during this Covid-19 pandemic is that there is no certainty. We have all been dealing with the daily stress of stay-at-home orders, business closings, and what feels like hourly increases in the reported cases of this novel virus. There has been an unprecedented number of unemployment compensation filings in the state from so many businesses making the difficult decision to lay-off employees during this time.
Whether you are paying or receiving child support and/or spousal support, if you have been laid off from work or have lost your job due to the current health crisis, it is extremely important to notify your county Domestic Relations office as soon as possible. Most county Domestic Relations offices are maintaining some sort of staffing to process electronic or mailed hard copy support complaints or modifications to existing support orders. The entry of a support order is retroactive to the date that it is filed with Domestic Relations, which is why it is imperative to file as soon as a change in employment status occurs.
If you are filing a new support action or to modify an existing support order, maintain copies of everything that you send to Domestic Relations and save all electronic correspondence. If you are mailing documents, take a photo, with date-stamp, of the envelope to document the timing of the filing.
Finally, if you are overdue in paying child support and your county Domestic Relations office has reported the arrears to the U.S. Department of Treasury, the money you could be receiving from the recently enacted Stimulus Package may be intercepted and applied to the arrears. If you are unsure if you are behind in child support payments, you can log onto the Pennsylvania State Collection and Disbursement Unit at www.childsupport.state.pa.us.
If you would like to schedule a consultation with a family law attorney at Daley Zucker, please contact our office at 717-724-9821.
