One thing that is decided on during a divorce is how much one spouse will pay in child support. However, the amount owed in child support doesn't last indefinitely. There are actually some valid reasons that you can request a child support payment modification.
Parent Income Changes
Child support payments are set during a divorce based on how much each parent is earning at the time. If that amount were to change where either parent makes substantially more or less, this could help justify a change in child support. For example, if you are the parent that is paying child support and your spouse just changed jobs and is now making significantly more money, this could potentially change how much child support you owe by lowering the amount.
Child Custody Changes
It is common for child support to be paid to the parent that has primary custody since they are spending the most on the child's needs on a daily basis. That's why it's worth requesting a modification to child support payment if that custody agreement were to change. This may be due to the child's time now being split more evenly between each parent, or one parent now taking on more custody time because the other parent is not around.
Special Need Changes
A child may have some sort of special need that gets better or worse after the original child support amount was decided on. For example, the child may have a greater need for medical care or education, which increases their living expenses. This can be used to justify a bigger child support payment. However, the opposite is true as well, such as if a child's special needs have improved and they now require less financial assistance.
Age-Related Changes
There will come a time when child support payment will end, which is typically when they reach the age of majority at 18 years old. However, that is not always guaranteed. If a child does have special needs it's possible for child support payments to continue indefinitely as long as one parent is the primary caretaker of their child.
Mistake Related Changes
Child support payments are decided on based on the information given at the time of the divorce. However, it's possible that a mistake was made that results in the child support payments being incorrectly decided on. For example, this could be due to a parent not being truthful about their income where they make more money than they said they do.
For more information, contact a child custody attorney near you.
Share21 February 2023
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