Divorce Guide

How to Change Child Support Order

A Child Support Order is issued by the court to define the child maintenance a child should get from the non custodial parent. Many parents want to know how to change the child support order.

After divorce takes place the child stays with the custodial parent. But the custodial parent cannot take care of the child alone. In order to share the financial responsibility of the child the court orders the non residential to pay child support.

Child Support is a regular payment made by the non custodial parent to the custodial parent as a financial support towards the child’s expenses. Family Law has made it mandatory for the parent to pay child support as it is a necessary financial responsibility.

However as the time passes, or the circumstances change one might feel the need to change the order. Now the question is how to change the Child Support Order. Since Child Support Order is a judicial order it is not that simple to change it.

Changing Child Support Order becomes inevitable in some situations. Here are a few situations that can lead to modifications of the Support Order:

1. The custodial parent feels that the support amount is not enough and should be increased. There can be a need for larger child support amount due to inflation, growing needs of the child, unexpected medical expenses of the child, special education, or any other reason. The custodial parent might also request for greater mount if he or she loses the job or faces a cut in salary.
2. The payer or the non custodial wants to reduce the child support money for various reasons like cut in income, loss of job, increased liability, and so on. The non custodial parent can also request for reduction of child maintenance if the child starts earning for himself.
3. The payer can also ask to stop the child maintenance if the child starts to earn before 18, or he is totally incapable of paying the money due to a serious reason.

A request for modification in Child Support Order can be made due to any of the above circumstances. In case you and the other parent agree to change any clause in the Child Support Order, you can do it through a mutual agreement but still you will have to present yourself before the judge and present your arguments.

The judge will consider changing the order after hearing both the parties. The changes are only granted if the court feels that they are not coming in the way of child’s needs.

The judge can allow permanent as well as temporary change depending on the situation. For example if the parent has requested for a reduction in child support order due to loss of job, the court might allow a reduction till the time he gets another job.

A good attorney specializing in child support laws can tell you how to change the child support order. However the order can only be changed if the judge sees a good rationale behind it.

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