Actress Morena Baccarin's divorce from Austin Chick and their subsequent custody and co-parenting arrangement has not been without issue. (See previous blog from November 2016). The two are still battling in court, but this time it's over spousal support. Morena Baccarin Spousal Support Discount: Judge Shaves $15K!, by TMZ Staff, tmz.com, April 13, 2017. Since the parties' divorce, Baccarin has been paying Chick $20K/month in spousal support. However, she recently went back to court to get the amount reduced, claiming she could no longer afford it.
Specifically, Baccarin argued that her TV show "Gotham" hadn't been picked up for another season and, thus, she does not currently have the income to support the ordered amount. In addition, Baccarin alleged that Chick could find a job, but has been relying on the spousal support instead of looking for work. The combination of these two things convinced a judge to reduce the spousal support owed to $5K/month beginning on June 1.
The spousal support issue is likely far from over in this case. Unfortunately, this often happens for those in the entertainment industry whose income greatly fluctuates depending on whether they are currently working and bringing home a paycheck. If Baccarin's show gets picked up for another season, Chick will likely be back in court asking for an increase based upon her increase in income. However, the court will also likely look at his attempts to secure employment in the interim and take that into consideration when determining whether spousal support should be increased at that time based on the increase in income.