The Crossroads of Workplace Injury and Family Support Orders

For those involved in a divorce or child custody dispute, workplace injury claims have a special significance. The standards of proof and outcomes in a workplace injury claim may be significantly different when it comes to spousal support or child support cases. There are also different moral issues involved between the two situations. In a workplace injury case you cannot work, or your ability to work and earn income may be diminished. Your physician may be telling you not to work – for any physical activity may aggravate your injury. However, in a child and spousal support case the moral and legal compass points to a different direction. Here, you may be told you really should be working; you really should be earning an income; and/or you better go out and get a job. To make things worse, the family court can send you to prison if you do not pay your spousal or child support. Because of the possible consequences, anyone with a workplace injury case must be careful to recognize all the possible complications.

Required Proof

When you enter the workplace claims process, you must be sure to keep a copy of all documentation, including detailed medical files. Try to use local doctors for your evaluations. That way you can call on them as expert witnesses if needed. But when it comes to family court, nothing can beat employing the services of a vocational evaluator. That is a person that may be able to give expert testimony of your ability to work. A vocational evaluator can collect your medical documentation and organize everything into a concise report. That report may make you successful at convincing a judge of your inability to pay support.

Your Apparent Lifestyle

If you claim you are unable to pay support because of a workplace injury, it is self-defeating if you show a continued thirst for expensive toys, trips, cars, or other accoutrements of a successful lifestyle. Even though you may have a spouse that works, and can maintain your lifestyle, it won’t play well to a court if your children must do without and the evidence suggests your lifestyle has not taken a turn for the worse. The bottom line is that you must show a lifestyle that matches your claims and defenses. You need to reduce daily expenses. That should include eliminating restaurant meals, movies, and all visible entertainment. Also, consider scaling down your vehicle. If your workplace injury claim and family support claims are significant, these measures can improve your future outcome.

Your Ability to Work

This is the most complicated issue to consider. For your workplace injury case, a new job that pays a decent salary will serve to minimize your potential claim for compensation. But that new job with a decent salary is absolutely what is needed to keep you out of prison for failure to pay child support. The two principles are in conflict and extremely difficult to reconcile. The answer is not desirable, but can work for both situations. You must make an effort to scale down your lifestyle as much as possible. Make brutally severe changes in every way possible. At the same time, make your best effort to pay partial payments toward your spousal support or child support obligations. If you properly scaled down your lifestyle, the savings should produce some money to use for support payments. And finally, be sure to consult with a family law attorney on the feasibility of immediately filing for a modification of your support obligations. A properly timed modification case can bolster your claims of inability to work. Depending on the jurisdiction, this may also insulate you from being sent to prison.

If you are successful at juggling the various issues, you can continue to pursue your workplace injury claim while staying out of prison for not fully paying support obligations. Always be sure to collect a complete set of medical documentation. Use local doctors and keep in touch with their offices. And scale down your lifestyle so you have nothing to hide when your support obligation is brought to court for enforcement. With some careful planning that encompasses your workplace claim, and your family claims, you can navigation both situations and have a successful outcome.

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