May 18, 2009 6:00 pm US/Eastern
3 On Your Side: Divorce Settlement Changes
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―
Everywhere you look these days, the economy is making an impact-even in divorces.
Your Money Team finds more and more couples have to renegotiate settlements because their financial situation has changed.
3 On your Side's Jim Donovan is here to explain.
This definitely a growing trend. You just want to make sure you cover yourself legally.
As a single mom, Joni Carley worried when expenses for her two sons went way up.
"Economic changes were huge in these last few years," said Carley.
She says she had no choice but to go back to court and try to change her divorce settlement.
Many people think a divorce decree signed by a judge is set in stone, but that's not the case.
Renegotiation is common, even years after a marriage dissolves.
"Because divorces involve real people in real situations, real things happen to them. They get pay reductions. They lose their job. They get ill. They get disabled," said attorney, Ike Vanden Eykel.
If you're the one who is supposed to pay, but can't, don't ignore the problem.
"If you do nothing in a situation where you have a court ordered obligation, every day that goes by where you are not compliant with that order, things get worse," said Vanden Eykel.
Start by speaking with your former spouse and then get your lawyer involved to make it all legal.
It's always a good idea to get proof of any change in finances and set a time period for how long the new agreement will last.
"It needs to have some kind of ending date," said Vanden Eykel.
Part of Joni's settlement was renegotiated, but not everything. Her advice to others-try to work it out together, for the kids' sake.
"The most important thing is for both parents to step up to the plate and do their best for the kids," said Carley.
Lawyers suggest other options to help both parties in this scenario.
For example, an ex may no longer be able to pay, but could swap assets such as a vehicle to help make up some of the difference, or lengthen the amount of time they are supposed to pay in exchange for paying less.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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