After child support orders are issued, sometimes things change. After all, these child support orders are meant to last many years and not every change can be anticipated. When things change and you may need to modify the child support order.
There are numerous reasons to modify child support. Here are some of the most common reasons:
- It has been more than three years since child support was calculated.
- A parent is no longer making the amount of money they used to make when his or her child support obligation was calculated, and the child support needs to be adjusted downward.
- Loss of employment by the obligor.
- The child support guidelines adjust for inflation periodically and your child support may have increased based on inflation alone.
- The Obligor is now making more money than he or she did when the child support was initially calculated.
- The Obligor is not exercising their possession schedule fully, leaving the child to be supported by the Obligee during times when the child was supposed to be in the obligor’s possession.
- The child no longer lives with the parent that the child was supposed to live with primarily so the child support obligation needs to terminate, and the other parent should be ordered to pay child support.
- An unforeseen increase in the needs of the child.
- A parent has moved, which has increased the costs for a child.
- The child has become disabled and child support needs to continue beyond age 18 and graduation from high school.
It is important that a modification be filed promptly when one of these situations occurs because a modification can only backdate to the date of filing the motion for modification. To find out if you should file for a modification contact Robin R. Zegen to schedule a consultation and evaluation of your case today.