Married 5 years, 18 month old child with roughly 55/45 custody split, married and divorced in Tennessee.

During the COVID pandemic my pay was incredible due to the extraordinary circumstances and increased demand for my line of work. It’s slowly been decreasing, but starting September 1st I’ll be taking a 40% pay decrease and I’m genuinely concerned about my ability to continue making payments at the current amount.

During our mediation, the amounts for alimony and child support were calculated based on my inflated income. Because I was aware that pay decreases were inevitable in the future, I attempted to have an amendment included in the MDA that would decrease alimony payments based upon decreases in my pay, but she rejected this idea. I’ll still be making great money, and I’m definitely topping out my earning potential in my role. I’ve included the math below, but I’m not sure how I’m going to handle this.

Current Income $12,240/month gross

Income beginning September 1st $7,272/month gross

Alimony $1,780/month for 30 months with 25 months remaining

Child Support $1,285/month

My net income beginning September will be ~$5,400/month, leaving me with $2,335 after making alimony and child support payments. While I realize child support can be reduced significantly in this situation, I’ll still likely be paying ~$575. Assuming this is an accurate prediction of my future child support amount, I’ll be left with ~$3,045/monthly net. Also, per our MDA expenses such as medical, school, etc. for our child are divided pro rata, meaning I’ll still be responsible for ~66% of those expenses.

A quick run down of some of my basic recurring expenses are:

Rent $1,200/month Health Insurance $300/month Car/Life Insurance $215/month

I can make it work, but it’s going to be tight. It’s frustrating to see me left with ~$36,000 net after paying alimony and child support while she will have ~$67,000 net after I pay her alimony and child support. Any advice?