After a divorce, it is not uncommon for you and your former spouse’s financial status to change frequently. When a major change occurs, you may need an increased child support payment, or a decreased payment, to better support your ability to raise your child in a stable home environment. If you find yourself in this situation, the Business Name is here to help.
To successfully change a payment, you must submit a request for child support modification to the court. Unfortunately, if your spouse does not initially agree to the change, you will be required to prove the need for the change in court. You will need a final court approval for the modification to become legally binding. If you skip this step, pursuing legal action against a spouse who refuses to pay support payments in the future will become more difficult.
Your biggest obstacle is proving that you have had a substantial change in your financial circumstances. Many pieces of evidence can be used to prove these circumstances, but to help you understand what reason for the modification you should be presenting to the courts, here are some of the most commonly presented issues:
* The child’s needs have experienced a noticeable increase in financial support needs. Religious obligations, school supplies, medical expenses, age-related expenses, and a general cost of living increase can all qualify this situation.
* The non-custodial (or paying) parent has had a substantial increase in their income. Generally, any increase of 10% or more is grounds to request a higher child support payment. If you can prove this increase in payments is in the best interest of the child’s living situation, this reason becomes even stronger.
* The custodial (or receiving) parent has experienced a substantial decrease in income. Once again, a substantial decrease is generally considered anything more than 10%. Considerations surrounding the child’s best interest are once again very important to this argument.
No matter what argument you are presenting, it is completely necessary to ensure the action made to increase child support was done intentionally with the purpose of having a support increased/decreased. If a party can prove a spouse purposefully decreased their income to receive higher payments, for example, the possibility that you will gain the modification successfully will decrease significantly.
Are you ready to pursue a modification to your current child support agreement? Get in contact with the Business Name today for a free consolation. We look forward to dedicating ourselves to getting you the child support payment rates your family deserves.
