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Does Workers’ Compensation Affect Child Support?

Many people have a legal obligation to make child support payments.  Sometimes, these payments are automatically deducted out of a person’s paycheck.

Failure to meet these legal obligations can lead to serious consequences.  In Georgia, the failure to pay child support could subject you to civil or even criminal liability in some instances.

So, what happens when you are injured at work and are unable to do as a result of your injury? How does this affect your obligation to pay child support?

Many people have questions about how much child support they pay when they are receiving workers' compensation benefits

Can child support be deducted from my workers compensation check?

Yes. You still have to pay your child support obligation even if you suffer an injury at work. Money can be held out of your weekly workers compensation benefits for payment of that obligation.

If you are behind on your child support payments, then money to pay the back due amounts can be held out as well.  There are some limits that govern how much child support can be held out per week.

Do I have to pay less child support since workers’ compensation pays me less per week than what I was earning at work?

In Georgia, workers compensation does not pay your full lost wages.  At most, you will receive two-thirds of what you made before your injury. If your earnings were high enough, you may receive even less since Georgia has a maximum temporary total disability rate.

Since your amount of child support was likely based on your income before you got hurt at work injury, it may be difficult for you to meet that support obligation when you are out of work and receiving workers compensation benefits.  Despite the fact that you are receiving less money on workers compensation, your child support obligation will stay the same unless there is some additional agreement or order made in your child support case.

This can make it very difficult to get by while you are on workers compensation and paying child support.  This difficulty can be enhanced when inflation hits and prices go up.

If your circumstances have changed and you think your child support payment should be less, you will have to take legal action to get that modified. If you think your obligation should be changed, you should probably discuss this with an attorney that specializes in child support cases.

If I settle my workers compensation case, will child support be held out of my settlement?

Whether child support is held out of a workers compensation settlement usually depends on whether you are current on your payments. If you are current on your payments, then money will generally not be held out of your workers compensation settlement for child support.  But, that does not mean you do not have to make your child support payments going forward.

If you are behind in your child support obligations, then money will generally have to be held out of settlement to pay the back due amount.  Often, a lien has been filed for the back due child support amount.

State Board Rule 15 covers the requirements for all workers compensation settlements. Subsection (l) of that rule requires an injured worker to stipulate that there are no outstanding child support liens.

This means that you will have to sign paperwork as part of a settlement indicating that you do not have back due child support obligations.  If you do have back due child support obligations, those obligations will have to be addressed in the workers compensation settlement paperwork.

What if I have other questions about workers compensation?

Georgia’s workers compensation system can be very confusing.  You have to worry about getting the treatment you need and paying your bills while also worrying about not missing any deadlines that could cause you to lose your right to receive workers compensation benefits.

If you have questions, I would recommend that you try to get answers.  To find out more about how to schedule a time to talk to me about your workers compensation questions, just read this short article.

Jason Perkins is an attorney who specializes in representing injured workers.  He regularly publishes videos and write blog articles about Georgia’s workers compensation system and issues that are important to injured workers and their families.

To be notified of Jason’s new workers compensation videos, subscribe to his Georgia Workers Compensation Video Series channel on YouTube by clicking the subscribe button below.

Brittney-lee orourkeBrittney-lee orourke
05:23 18 Feb 22
Amazing! Jason and his team were very helpful and had the best communication by far. Walked me though every step with great detail and had answers for any question I had. They handled my case better then I could imagine, it was a weird case and they stayed on top of it and kept me updated every step of the way! Highly recommend this Team! Thanks so much to Jason and his Awesome team!-Brittney
China JonesChina Jones
18:58 08 Feb 22
I absolutely love this group of attorneys, when I was at my lowest they did everything they could to help me get justice for my injury. I believe if I were to have never picked my phone up and called the amazing group that helped me I definitely would not have received my idea of rights. If you have an issue and are just not sure please understand that they will help you, stay in contact, answer any question you have, and for sure get you the justice you deserve I thank them from the bottom of my heart and I will definitely refer them to anyone who has been hurt because they most definitely care about their work and clients.
Luv LocsLuv Locs
16:08 15 Jan 22
The entire law office was attentive and responsive to all of my concerns dealing with my workers compensation case.
moombimoombi
21:14 02 Jan 22
If you must get a lawyer involved, you’d do well to work with Jason Perkins and his team at Perkins Studdard Law.They were thorough in gathering information and in sharing all the steps in the workers comp process specific to my case. Jason and the team were responsive to my bevy of questions and concerns.I appreciated the informative videos and consultations provided by Jason over video meetings and multiple phone calls.I hope I’m never injured on the job again. However, if I am and if my employer responds as my previous employer did, I’ll contact Perkins Studdard Law immediately to handle the case.
Dana BessDana Bess
23:57 10 Dec 21
Everyone at Perkins Studdard was kind and professional. They were always extremely responsive and answered all questions that I had and followed up to make sure I had an understanding of what was going on along with emailing videos to explain every step of my case so I would know what to expect and be prepared. Jason is a very genuine person and I trusted him with my case. He answered so many questions for me even before I retained him as my WC lawyer. I highly recommend him and his associates at Perkins Studdard.
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