Curt Brown

South Coast Today

A national economic recession, which has caused unemployment to soar to 12.4 percent regionally, is showing its face in the daily business of Bristol County Probate and Family Court’s courthouses in New Bedford and Fall River. While fewer couples are filing for divorce, court officials and local lawyers said they are seeing an increase in requests for reductions in their support payments from people who have lost their jobs or had their hours cut.

Gina L. DeRossi, register-magistrate of Bristol County Probate and Family Court, reported an 18.1 percent increase in the number of people seeking what the court calls modifications, or changes, in the child support payments of their divorce or paternity agreements. The number rose from 2,200 in fiscal 2008 to 2,599 in the following year, according to court records.

Source: http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091011/NEWS/910110347/1018/OPINION