Just finished a case where my client filed a child support motion pro se but wanted me to argue it in court. After we resolved most of the issues in his favor, I realized that there were some other issues that he did not address in his motion. In New Jersey, you can only argue what you put in the motion. Thus, he would have had to hire me to come back to court. I worked out this other issue for him that will save him tens of thousands of dollars over time.
I also make sure that his child support numbers were correct as the court’s numbers were wrong. Sometimes clients don’t appreciate your efforts because they don’t even grasp what you’ve done, but he sure did. At the end of the day, he said, wow, you are really good. That made it all worth it for me. And no, it has nothing to do with my ego. I went the extra mile for him by working out issues he wasn’t even asking for and he realized that and was thankful for it. For me, that is what it is all about.
I noticed in your blog that you should hire a lawyer upon losing your job, but then state one should file a motion after losing their job a few months after the fact, because judges won’t rule on changed circumstances because it’s too soon.
There is a problem with that. It’s called NJSA 2A:17-56.23 (anti-retroactive statute)–the Bradley Amendment. If you don’t file a motion immediately upon losing your job, you cannot modify any arrearages except from the time you file the motion. In today’s economy, a lot of child support payors were making big “bucks” and are now on unemployment. And, a lot of these payors were paying big support & alimony orders like 3,000 per month and up.
I had lawyers telling members of my group to wait 3-5 months to file. In several cases that would’ve put the payor almost $20,000-$25,000 behind in arrearages with no hope of modifying or recouping that money because of the Bradley Amendment.
You need to elucidate this position because a lot of people paying support & alimony are becoming unemployed in this economy.
To make my position clear, the situation for everyone is different. I cannot tell anyone to do something now or later or ever. However, I can say that anyone having any child support issues or any court matters should meet with an attorney before doing anything. The Court will tell you the same thing if you try to file pro se. In addition, just because you hire an attorney when you lose your job does not mean that the attorney will advise you to file a motion right away. As an attorney, I certainly know about the various child support laws such as the ARS but when you have a limited supply of funds to hire an attorney, filing a motion right away is rarely a smart idea. Instead, working with an attorney that will develop a long term strategy with you and then file a motion is probably the better move. Of course, arrears will build up but that is the system that we live in. I don’t like it anymore than the people paying the child support.