Obviously committing criminal activities and getting thrown in jail is not what anyone would call a good thing. In matters of custody, it can be fatal to your case. If you are away from your children for more than six months, you can be accused of abandonment of the child and the ex-spouse or other parent can try to take custody away from you. Now, this cause of action using an abandonment argument does not always lead to success for the moving party. The law in the Commonwealth gives incarcerated parties rights under the law regarding custody and child support. If an incarcerated person can not pay his or her child support obligations the incarcerated party can claim a change of circumstances such that he or she cannot pay – their obligations can be changed or modified under the law on Petition for Modification to the Court.
In Plunkard v. Mconnell, 962 A.2d 1227 (2008), the incarcerated individual argued that the incarceration precluded payment of child support. The incarcerated party filed a Petition to Modify from prison. The child support master recommended that the child support payment obligation be ceased and that arrearages be waived. However, although the Court indicated that incarceration merited a change in circumstances enough that child support should cease while the individual was incarcerated, the Court refused to remove the arrearages, reasoning that the individual should not financially benefit from incarceration where child support was concerned. So when the parent got out the debt to his child remained.
Thus, although incarceration can result in circumstances which cause the cessation of child support – generally this will only occur during the period of incarceration.