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Georgia judge decreases Terrell Owens’ child support payments

In recent years, due largely to the troubled economy and high unemployment rate, many Georgia parents have sought downward modifications of their court-ordered child support payments after the loss of a job or a reduction in their pay. This can even happen to celebrities and professional sports players, as evidenced by former NFL player Terrell Owens’ attempts at child support modification following his entry into free agency.

We have detailed Owens’ child support difficulties on this blog on numerous occasions in recent months. He has been the subject of multiple Fulton County court filings in which the mother of one of his four children has detailed Owens’ failure to pay child support as ordered by the court.

Owens has repeatedly maintained that he is unable to make his child support payments due to his lack of employment. After undergoing a surgical procedure, Owens was released into free agency, and was unable to secure a new football contract. This made it “nearly impossible” for him to make his child support payments, which were between $5,000 and $20,000 per child per month. Owens has four children, which means that he could easily have been paying more than $50,000 per month in child support.

Recently, a Georgia family court judge granted Owens’ request for a downward modification in child support. The order is sealed to the public, but unnamed sources told local media that it “accurately reflects the amount of money [Terrell] is making.” Owens was also awarded visitation rights for at least one of his children, which is a right he had not requested until now.

Source: Examiner, “Terrell Owens wins big in child support case,” Kelly Cozzone, Feb. 6, 2012