Does it affect Cost of Living Adjustments if a parent loses his or her job or fails to pay child support?
If the party making support payments has a reduction in his or her income, it is possible to file a motion with the court to reduce the amount of support payments and modify the original maintenance/child support agreement. Another issue may be if the original agreement did not include a limit to the COLA increases, the limit may be either monetary or a period of time. This may be necessary in cases where the agreement has a long duration, such as in the case of a young child where the increases would last many years, or if increased payments are unlikely based on the party’s occupation. Correspondingly, if a party fails to pay child support, this does not automatically suspend the Cost of Living Adjustment increase. The two are separate issues. If a party cannot pay the COLA increase due to a change in circumstances, he or she will have to petition the court to reduce the amount of payments or modify the agreement. Similarly, if child support payments are not being paid, the party not
