You are burned out. A new job would pay less but give you your evenings back. Or you want to go back to school, start a business, or stay home with a new baby. You also pay child support, and the obvious question follows: if you earn less, will you pay less?

Not automatically, and possibly not at all. A support order stays in force until a court changes it. And when the court is asked to change it, a drop in income that you chose is treated very differently from one that happened to you. South Carolina calls the chosen kind voluntary underemployment, and the court's answer to it is imputed income.

If you are on the other side of this, the parent whose ex just quit a good job, we wrote that post too: imputed income in South Carolina. This one is for the parent thinking about making the change.

What the guidelines say

South Carolina's Child Support Guidelines are set by regulation. They provide that "if the court finds that a parent is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed, it should calculate child support based on a determination of potential income which would otherwise ordinarily be available to the parent." S.C. Code Regs. 114-4720(A)(5).

In other words, the court can set support on what you could earn rather than what you do earn. To decide what that is, the guidelines direct the court to look at "the specific circumstances of the parent to the extent known," including "the parent's assets, residence, employment and earnings history, job skills, educational attainment, literacy, age, health, criminal record and other employment barriers, and record of seeking work, as well as the local job market, the availability of employers willing to hire the parent, prevailing earning level in the community, and other relevant factors."

There are limits built in. A finding of voluntary unemployment "shall not be made when an individual's incarceration prevents employment." And the court "may take into account the presence of young children or handicapped children who must be cared for by the parent." That is the regulation's wording for children whose care keeps a parent from working.

The situations people actually ask about

Going back to school. Education can raise a parent's earning power over time, and that is not nothing. But the children need support now. Expect the court to ask how long the program is, what it leads to, and how support will be paid in the meantime.

Starting a business. A new business that has not turned a profit can look, on paper, exactly like underemployment. The questions are whether the venture is real and reasonable, how long the lean period lasts, and whether the parent's own lifestyle matches the income being reported.

Taking a lower-paying job for quality of life. A sincere reason is still a reason the court weighs against the children's needs. The guidelines' focus on earning history and job skills means a parent who walks away from a well-paid position may find support set close to the old salary.

Losing a job. This is the one that happened to you, and it is treated as such, if you can show it. The guidelines list a parent's "record of seeking work" for a reason.

Before you make the change

Changing jobs does not change your order. Until a judge signs a new one, the old amount is owed, and the shortfall accrues as arrears. Section 63-3-620 allows the court to hold a parent in contempt who "wilfully violates, neglects, or refuses to obey or perform a lawful order of the court." If your income genuinely drops, the remedy is to ask the court to modify support promptly, not to pay less on your own.

Timing also matters. A resignation that lands shortly after a support case is filed tells its own story, whatever the real reason. If you are planning a change and a case is pending or likely, talk to a lawyer before you give notice, not after.

And keep records. Applications, interviews, offers declined and why, a business plan, an enrollment letter: whatever explains the change is evidence. A parent who can show the reasoning is in a very different position from one who can only assert it.

If you also pay alimony

The same idea runs through alimony. The alimony statute directs the court to consider "the current and reasonably anticipated earnings of both spouses," § 20-3-130(C). And periodic alimony may be modified under § 20-3-170(A) when "the circumstances of the parties or the financial ability of the spouse making the periodic payments" have changed. A reduction in income you chose is a weak foundation for either request.

What this means for you

None of this means you can never take a different job. People change careers, go back to school, and start businesses, and courts do not expect anyone to stay in one job forever. It means the change has consequences for a child support order, and the time to understand them is before you make it. We explained how the underlying numbers work in how child support is calculated in South Carolina.

Stevens Family Law, LLC is devoted exclusively to family law, and our attorneys handle child support and alimony matters in Family Courts across South Carolina. A job change that makes sense for your life can still be handled badly in court, and the difference is usually what was planned and documented before the change. Call our office at (864) 598-9172, or request a consultation.

This article is general information, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. The guideline provisions described here reflect the South Carolina Child Support Guidelines as most recently amended in 2024, and they are revised periodically.