Can Child Support Be Modified After it Has Been Established?
Child support modification should happen if certain factors permanently, materially, and unexpectedly change.
You bet. In fact, most Hillsborough County child support orders remain in force and unchanged for more than a year. Florida, like most other jurisdictions, is an income share state. Courts base child support obligations on a number of financial factors. If any factor materially, permanently, and unexpectedly changes, the court must recalculate child support.
The circumstances determining a child support obligation may change, but the factors that set this obligation do not change. The role of a Brandon family law attorney does not change either. A lawyer thoroughly evaluates your case and helps you make a cost-benefit determination. If the benefit exceeds the cost for you and not for your lawyer, a legal team springs into action. Bear in mind that child support obligor/obligee changes or amount increases are usually retroactive to the date of filing. Child support decreases usually are not retroactive.
General Factors
We mentioned three general factors (material, permanent, and unexpected change) above. Now, let’s break them down a little further.
The material change usually involves a lifestyle or financial change. Junior spends more (or less) time with Mom or Dad. Economically, the obligor’s income increases and/or the obligee’s income decreases. Obligors are people who pay support; obligees receive support payments. Generally, a 10% change qualifies as a material change.
Furthermore, the change must be permanent. Junior may get mad at Mom and spend more time with Dad (or vice versa), but that change usually is not permanent. More than likely, Junior will not stay mad forever. Likewise, if Mom receives a large bonus at work or if Dad’s rideshare side hustle picks up, these changes usually are not permanent.
We should digress for a moment and state that child support and parenting time modifications often go hand in hand. For this reason, a Brandon family law attorney often consolidates them into a single motion to modify.
Finally, the change must be unexpected. This factor often comes into play if the obligor retires. Retirement, especially voluntary retirement, is not an unexpected change. If the retirement was semi-voluntary or completely forced, that’s different.
Such income changes may also affect spousal support obligations. Once again, lawyers usually combine these multiple matters into a single motion to modify.
Specific Factors
We have yet to discuss the most important child support modification factor, which is the best interests of the child. Best interests is a nebulous, lawyerly concept that means different things to different people.
In most cases, the child support guidelines are presumably in the best interests of the child. Since Florida is an income-share state, as mentioned above, the guidelines take a number of things into account, mostly the proportionate income of the parents and the overnight visitation division. Other factors include the child’s special needs and unreimbursed medical expenses.
The guidelines don’t apply in all cases, usually if the parents have very high or very low incomes. In these cases, the judge considers several factors, such as:
- Each party’s total financial resources, and not just regular income,
- The child’s needs, as opposed to the parent’s or the child’s desires,
- Emotional bond between each parent and the child, and
- Child’s age.
Usually, a judge can only modify child support orders once a year unless both parents agree to the change or extreme circumstances exist.
Most child support modification matters, like most initial determinations, settle out of court. Frequently, settlement negotiations begin and end before the movant files legal paperwork. If a movant presents an agreed motion, the judge will most likely sign it without holding a hearing.
Count on a Savvy Hillsborough County Attorney
Child support orders are subject to frequent modification. For a confidential consultation with an experienced family law attorney in Brandon, contact Carman & Finegan, P.A. The sooner you reach out to us, the sooner we start working for you.