Child support amount
June 20, 2009 | 50,00 EUR | answered by Dr. Lars Nozar
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am a self-employed entrepreneur and had to close my business last year for economic reasons. Now I have opened a new business and had to incur some new debts, with a very good friend. However, the business is not generating any income yet. This means that the costs are somewhat covered, but I cannot even think about covering my living expenses, let alone repaying the borrowed money. My ex-wife and her new husband now believe that I should pay the same amount in maintenance as before the change in my business, since I gave up the business myself. Now my question is:
Is it true that the calculation basis remains the same even though I would have gone bankrupt if I had kept the business? Is it true that despite not even earning my own subsistence level, I still have to pay the same maintenance? I would like to have my ability to pay assessed in order to finally have clear circumstances. If it is true what my ex-wife, who received a healthy business from me and continues to run it successfully, thinks, I am insolvent and no longer know what to do and lose everything I have worked for over the past 15 years.
I would be grateful for a quick response.
Yours sincerely,
Hello,
I assume that this concerns child support.
If there is a support order (youth welfare office certificate, agreement, or judgment of the family court) against you, you can have it modified at the competent family court if you are no longer able to pay. In that case, you currently do not owe any support.
Otherwise, if there is a support order in place, you will accumulate support arrears every month if you do not pay, even if you are not actually making any payments.
However:
It should be noted that strict requirements are placed on the obligation to pay support, including the need to accept "lower" jobs and set aside any desire for self-employment. This means that you may have to give up a new self-employment venture if it is not profitable. It may be necessary for you to take on other work (even as an employee) in order to ensure the support.
Your ex seems to believe that your current inability to pay is somehow "self-inflicted" (giving up the old self-employment and starting a new - still deficit - self-employment) and then it is assumed that you could still pay and earn above the self-supporting amount. Your current situation is ignored and a higher income is assumed.
If there is a support order in place, have it modified. It is best to seek legal assistance for this.
Otherwise, your ex will likely take action and you will need to prove that economic conditions necessitated giving up the original business and that the new business is profitable (at least after a transitional period). You will need to prove in court that your current inability to pay is not your fault. The court will particularly ask you why you entered into the new self-employment and why an employment with a fixed salary was not an alternative.
Best regards and have a nice Sunday
Attorney
