The past year has been a time of drastic economic decline, with millions losing jobs, real estate and stock values plunging, businesses performing far below accustomed levels, investment funds exposed as Ponzi schemes and the reduction or elimination of year-end bonuses in fields where such bonuses are typically the major part of total compensation. One result has been an increased number of applications for downward modification of support obligations.
A March 28, 2009, New York Times article captured the zeitgeist in describing the alarming number of new modification cases, both among the marginal earners and the wealthy, that are overwhelming the Family Court calendars.1
