Your family will not be on the street. A wife will generally divorce before (or at least right after) she is on the street. Welfare will then provide benefits

Your family will not be on the street. A wife will generally divorce before (or at least right after) she is on the street. Welfare will then provide benefits to her and the child. What will happen is once the wife/kids goes on public benefits, that will initiate the child support order. The judge will create an "imputed income" for you, which is whatever he thinks you should be able to earn. If you were a high income office worker, that dictates your imputed income. You are absolutely fucked if you don't keep earning at that rate, even if the only way to do it is a soul crushing office job. You must make enough to pay about 1/3 of that post-tax all in child support, or you will be in violation of child support. A few months of failure to keep up results in a felony conviction, the revocation of your licenses, seizure of your property, revocation of your passport, and imprisonment. While CS order accrues in jail, the arrears will quickly become insurmountable, and you will never again have any economic chance in the United States. It will never discharge, even in bankruptcy, and debtor's prison will always be in the near horizon.