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A court ordered Father to pay $1,600 per month in child support for two children. The order was based on Father's $88,000 salary and Mother's $52,000 salary. Eighteen months later, Father's plant closed. Father received eight weeks of severance, unemployment benefits, and a small payout for unused vacation. He applied for work in the same industry but rejected two night-shift jobs because they would interfere with his midweek parenting time. He did not file a motion to modify support until five months after the plant closed. By then he owed $8,000 in unpaid support.
Mother opposes any reduction, arguing that Father should have accepted the night-shift jobs and that the children should not bear the risk of his unemployment. Father argues that the layoff was involuntary and that the old order is impossible to pay. Father also has a new baby with a different partner and asks the court to account for that obligation. Mother asks for a wage-withholding order when Father finds work, interest on arrears, and a payment plan.
Discuss whether Father is entitled to a modification, how any modified amount should be timed, what happens to the accrued arrears, and what effect Father's new child may have on the support calculation.