If you’ve asked an agency to review your child support order and the agency has recommended that your order be changed, you’re already on the right track to receiving a support modification.
Judges tend to take the agency’s recommendation unless the other parent has persuasive reasons to do otherwise.
The judge understands that the agency has reviewed all of the appropriate financial data and that the agency has applied the state’s guidelines in making its recommendation.
How to Win a Child Support Modification Case
You’ll never really know without an agency review. Still, the standards for obtaining child support modification are that whatever resulted in your change in circumstances is permanent and significant enough to warrant modification under the guidelines for child support in your state.
Similarly, when you’ve requested a reduction in support because of an income loss, you must prove that the change wasn’t voluntary.
These include letters from your doctors and other evidence supporting your argument that you had no choice but to leave a position that endangered your physical or mental well-being.
How to Contest a Child Support Increase
When the custodial parent tries to lower your child support payments, you will need strong evidence to fight back.
If you’re asking based on an increase in your earnings, you could, for instance, demonstrate that it is a variation that you expect won’t happen regularly, like a one-time bonus or overtime wage that isn’t going to be standard for your job.
Alternatively, you could argue that the bump in earnings isn’t even enough to change one’s support.
Remember that the judge will examine both parents’ financial situations to decide whether to modify. So perhaps you could argue that the amount in question shouldn’t get higher – or maybe even lower – because the custodial parent has inherited money or has also had an income bump.
There’s one thing you don’t want to do: deny providing accurate and complete information about your finances.
You don’t have to make ongoing reports of any changes to your income – unless your child support order requires otherwise.
But whenever the state agency is reviewing whatever you are receiving in child support, or the other parent has filed a motion at the courthouse to modify support, you must respond to the request to provide information and supporting documents about your finances.
If you resist – or if the other parent demonstrates that the information you have reported is misleading or incomplete – the judge or agency may “impute” income to you.
Is It Possible to Change Child Support Without an Attorney?
Parents who want to change child support are usually in some financial crisis, which means they can’t afford an attorney to fight them in court. The easiest way to avoid legal fees associated with a modification request is simply agreeing with the other parent.
Short of that, however, you also shouldn’t need a lawyer to get an agency review of your existing order.
These agencies were explicitly established to give parents the means to resolve child support matters without incurring legal representation costs, and they generally offer straightforward procedures for appealing against their recommendations.
Also, as we explained above, after completing a review and determining that a support change is appropriate, agencies will typically file a modification request in court. But even if you would have to file a request for modification, many state courts have simplified procedures and forms available, so at least some parents should be able to handle these proceedings independently. This information is typically available online at your state’s court system or self-help center.
But you may be at a significant disadvantage without a lawyer’s assistance in certain circumstances, such as:
- The other parent has already retained counsel,
- You’re seeking a higher amount of support than the existing order supports for your child’s needs,
- You’re contesting in court an agency’s findings,
- Your case includes complicated issues regarding one parent’s actual income or earning potential; you’re navigating interstate support issues,
- Or you intend to appeal a judge’s ruling on a request for modification.
If this, or any other issues, may have arisen in your life that could complicate your modification case, you should at least speak with a family law attorney.
Especially to the one who has experience with modification cases, so he/she can evaluate your case and enlighten you on how to proceed.
