Well, you wouldn't normally get charged with contempt if you fail to pay because you lost your job ... unless you quit and/or refused to look for another one.
I'm sorry, but I do NOT understand this, Matthew. Assuming that I had no moral inhibitions against it, if I were desperate, I might kill myself ... but never my children. I'm guessing that he had gotten so bitter and hateful against his wife that he did this to make her suffer.