Job Loss
Contact your child support agency.
If you have lost your job and you have an open enforcement case, contact your local child support office. Our staff will try to work with you while you find a new job.
Your court order continues after a job loss or a reduction in work hours.
Your child support obligation does not automatically stop when your source of income ends. You are still responsible to pay your court-ordered amount of child support. If you have an open enforcement case, you may request a review of the amount of your child support obligation if you are expected to be out of work for an extended period of time through no fault of your own or you earn significantly less than at your old job. It takes a new court order to change the existing order.
Unemployment benefits
If you are eligible for unemployment insurance benefits, the Arkansas Division of Workforce Services (ADWS) may withhold your child support obligation from your benefits. In order for ADWS to withhold child support, either a court order must direct ADWS to withhold from unemployment benefits or you must agree that ADWS can withhold court-ordered child support from unemployment benefits.
If the court order does not direct ADWS to withhold child support, you can contact your local child support office and ask to sign an agreement for child support to be withheld from unemployment benefits.
The amount that is withheld cannot exceed CCPA (Consumer Credit Protection Act) limits.
