Raising or Lowering Child Support

 Posted on January 05, 2017 in Divorce

After a divorce, because of a change in circumstances, or for other reasons, the parties may want to change the amount of child support. Both parents may agree to the change. However, a judge usually must approve the change for it to be legally enforceable.

If the parties cannot agree on a change, either of them can ask a court to order it. Courts usually revise child support amounts only if there has been a significant change in circumstances. This helps prevent them from being burdened with frequent change requests. Several situations can support a request to change the amount of child support, including:

• the party paying support is out of work or now earns less money;
• the party receiving support now earns a lot more money;
• the child's needs change. This could be due to a school expense, medical emergency or other reason.

Generally, just because the paying parent now earns more money is not enough to justify raising the amount of child support.

People who want to modify child support should get legal help to do so. Seek the change request promptly, as judges usually will not make the new amount of child support retroactive.