Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, better known as the actor and rapper Nas, has won an important victory in court related to his spousal and child support payments.

Nas married singer Kelis in 2005 after a two-year relationship. In April 2009, Kelis filed for divorce from Nas while she was 7 months pregnant. In July 2009, Kelis gave birth to their son and a judge ordered Nas to pay $40,000 per month in child and spousal support that same month. In December 2009, a judge ordered the payments increased to $51,000 per month.
kelis_and_nas.jpgNas had trouble making his monthly payments and at one point faced a contempt charge after owing $350,000 in back support. As we have discussed previously in this blog, failing to pay child support and alimony can result in a contempt charge and many fathers are sent to jail as a result. When falling behind in child support, ignoring past due support is often a mistake that has serious repercussions.

When a non-custodial parent loses his or her income, child support payments do not automatically decrease. In fact, the payments will remain the same unless the parent takes the important step of informing the court. Often, the best option for fathers falling behind in their payments is to bring a motion to modify support payments.

Nas successfully convinced a family court that the bad economy has hurt his ability to earn the same amount of income as he could earn before. This month, a family law judge reduced his payments to $20,000 a month in child support and $5,000 each month in spousal support. Because of his successful motion to modify support payments, Nas will be paying less than half of what he had been required to pay in the past.

Source: MTV.com, "Nas' Child, Spousal Support To Kelis Slashed In Half," Mawuse Ziegbe, 1/7/2011