Let’s say you are the primary breadwinner in your family and are confronted with both a divorce and the loss of a job. This is not uncommon during the Coronavirus crisis.
The good news is there are steps you can take to protect yourself legally, and avoid the nightmare scenario.
What is the nightmare scenario? When the Judge in your divorce case imputes an income to you substantially higher than what you are currently earning for purposes of determining maintenance (alimony) and child support. This happens when the Judge believes that a spouse is attempting to avoid his/her support obligations, or otherwise has a higher earning ability than the amount of actual income.
What can you do to avoid this nightmare scenario?
First, don’t quit if you still have a job. You are much better off if, in a Judge’s eyes, you are laid off or furloughed so the job termination is involuntary, as opposed to voluntarily quitting or being fired for cause (misconduct).
Apply for unemployment benefits as soon as possible. In addition to getting the money, obtaining unemployment benefits helps establish that your job termination was involuntary and not your fault.
Make diligent efforts to obtain comparable employment and keep meticulous records of your efforts. If your prior job was a high paying executive or management job and you are unable to obtain a comparable job after a reasonable time, then apply for lower paying jobs with less responsibility. Again, keep meticulous records of all your efforts.
Although the following is not an exhaustive list, such diligent efforts can include the following:
– Prepare a resume, have it reviewed by resume experts, and keep improving your resume.
– Connect with, and work with, several recruiters.
– Open accounts with LinkedIn and Indeed to locate jobs.
– Attend job search seminars, job fairs and employment-related workshops.
– Gather information about job openings, visit job sites and complete job applications.
– Go on as many interviews as you can.
– Apply for many jobs in various industries.
– In addition to keeping meticulous and detailed records of your job search efforts, make the records contemporaneous with the events. In other words, when you do something to get a job, make a note of it on the same day you did it. This will help your lawyer lay the necessary evidentiary foundation to get the records of your job search efforts into evidence.
– Get a job! Going to trial with a job will put you in a better light with the Judge than going to trial without one.
If you follow this advice, it is likely that the Court will determine your support obligations so they are affordable for you. You will have avoided the nightmare scenario.
©2020 Arnold D. Cribari
