Hello, my question is a little different than most. My ex and I get along great, but my job has had a reduction in hours and it is getting hard to make a living. I am not in arrears but I am going broke. I pay a weekly amount that will never go up or down. We know how much I will owe by the time the kids are 18. My question is this... Is there a way she can just take my 401k for the amount I will owe, so I can be done with support? Thanks

If you can cash it out then you could pay a lump sum and yes that should pretty much satisfy the support obligation. However, why do you think it will never go up or down? Orders can be modified for many different reasons, they aren't set in stone forever.

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Originally Posted by hontr38

Hello, my question is a little different than most. My ex and I get along great, but my job has had a reduction in hours and it is getting hard to make a living. I am not in arrears but I am going broke. I pay a weekly amount that will never go up or down. We know how much I will owe by the time the kids are 18. My question is this......Is there a way she can just take my 401k for the amount I will owe, so i can be done with support?? Thanks

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You would have to get the Court's permission and I don't think the Court will allow it - too many variables involved in support.

Not all support ends at age 18 - I don't know what State you are in.

I don't believe he would actually have to get the court's permission (maybe in other states), he could send the payment in and he would have a credit for the account (at least that is how it would work here California) but his obligation would not "stop" or "close the case" and he would end up with problems later if the amount of support ever changed.

First no, child support can always go up and down, based on changes of income. I guess if you are on some fixed amount of income you know will never change I guess it may not, But you could withdraw the money, set up a trust and have the child support amount be drawn from that each month.

Thank you for all your answers, now I will try to answer some of yours... My support will not go up or down because we have decided on the amount, it is fixed. It doesn't matter if I make 1500.00 or 500.00 a week, that is the way it is in the paperwork. We have been divorced for 11 years, but with the economy the way it is, I was hoping that there was a way to pay a lump sum, something the courts could order so she could get the payment. My 401k plan will not let me take a loan out so I was hoping she could have the courts do something. She is game for the lump sum and will do anything she can to help us out, except for stopping the weekly payment all together... lol. Oh we live in Wisconsin.

I wish I had the answer to that but I don't... But can I just say it's great that you two have such a good relationship that you are so considerate of each other's circumstances and needs and that you are wanting to make sure your child/children have what they need and deserve in support from you. Congrats to you both! It's really nice to see parents actually work together, still care enough about one another and their kid/kids that it isn't a blood bath where the children are the victims.

As far as a lump some of money that mostly depends on how much time you have left to pay child support. Much beyond 3 years worth and courts get nervous about ok'ing lump sums. As far as taking from your 401k. Not a good idea. That's the wrong place to be going for money because it doesn't all belong to you. The gov will want a piece of it because no taxes have been paid on it yet and if you try to use it early and outside federal guidelines then you could also be looking at penalties. From a federal tax perspective child support is both non-deductable ( they the payer ) and non-taxable ( by the recipient )

So depending on your current situation you might be better off taking out a loan to make a bulk payment from and also be sure it all gets the stamp of approval from the courts.