Thank you for taking the time to read my post. After months of not paying child support of $2,000/mo. (as well as multiple additional items required by the Divorce Decree) (within the State of Georgia and where the Divorce Decree was filed), my ex-husband filed for Modification of Child Support. Due to his continued refusal to abide by the Divorce Decree including payments and other items such as life insurance and tax obligations, I responded with Affirmative Defenses, Answer and Counterclaim for Modification and Contempt, pro se. The affirmative defenses included unclean hands and no grounds for equitable relief. There was a 30 day scheduling conference today in which the Judge stated that I will be receiving a court date in the mail relating to the Motion for Contempt. Should I now be filing a Motion (or Petition) to Dismiss based on Unclean Hands and lack of grounds for equitable relief?

You should have an attorney, ( esp if your ex does) but you can try, did the judge rule anything on the previous similar motion

Maybe.

Have in mind that "Unclean Hands " doctrine is used mostly in the business or for non-compete clauses as contracts...
If he can show grounds for child support modification, he may be allowed to reduce his payments. It cannot be done retroactively.

It's a doctrine of equity, as opposed to law. Did Georgia never merge law and equity? (So 19th Century.)
Problem is: I don't think modification of child support is an action for "equitable relief". But, as Fr_Chuck said, you could try it.

FR_Chuck - Thanks so much for your time. Neither he nor I have attorneys for the Modification. Long story there. The good news is Georgia has a Family Law Division which assists individuals who are without an attorney and he was provided a fill-in-the-blank form to file for Modification. I am a (virtual) securities paralegal however I do not want to rely on my clients or share my personal information with them. I am relying on my ability to research (and this site) to get me through this ;-)and hence the reasons I am asking for guidance. To answer your question about the Judge's ruling on a previous similar motion, this is the first post judgment motion. There were numerous pre-judgment Motions (by me/my attorney) and Contempt Orders issued against my ex-husband. I hope that answers your questions. What I am hoping to find out is given my affirmative defenses of equitable relief and unclean hands in my Defenses, Answer and Counterclaim to his Request for Modification, should I follow that with a Motion to Dismiss on the grounds of equitable relief and unclean hands which are found in my affirmative defenses? And if so, when should I do that? Thanks for your time.

Here it is how the things work in Pa
1 There are child support guidelines.
To the child support payments may be modified and it depends on the payers income.
3.Neither Equitable relief nor Unclean hands doctrines may prevent modification.

Me , too.

Hi AK Lawyer - thanks so much. With regard to your statement that my question is "(So 19th century)," you are probably correct and I apologize for not understanding that. With regard to Georgia merging law and equity, I have no idea the answer to that question however I'm quite sure you can find the answer to that on this forum.

Thanks so much for your time.

GV70 - thanks so much for your response. I reviewed applicable defenses to child support modification but I wasn't sure if I should follow that up with a Motion (Petition) to Dismiss in support of those defenses. Based on your responses, it sounds like I could do that but it would more than likely be unsuccessful. That's what I wanted to know. I appreciate your comments.

Dear My3byz,

You should understand my perhaps unusual, sometimes inappropriate, sense of humor. The "so 19th Century" remark I was not directed at you; I was making fun of the State of Georgia which can be very backward at times.

And you probably don't have to really concern yourself about the merger of law and equity remark either. It is mainly a legal-hostorical issue that has little direct consequence for you.

Legal maxims such as "equity must come with clean hands" probably don't apply in the case of child support modification. This is because it is not "equitable relief" that he seeks. He simply seeks an adjustment of his child support obligation, the formula for which is normally found in statute or court rule.