Your Divorce was 5 Years Ago – Should Your Child Support be Reduced?

At the time of divorce, your child support was set based on the income you were making, the number of children you had and calculating those factors to get the amount of child support you would pay each month.  And, if you are paying child support, you have kids and your life has been busy.  Before you knew it, you realized 5 years had passed.  Is your child support still correct?  There are several reasons child support can be modified, here are a few to get you started thinking: change in possession or parenting schedule, reduction in pay or job loss, you have had additional children since then.

Possession Schedule or Parenting Schedule Change:

As kids get older their needs and schedules change.  If you and your ex-wife have agreed to a totally different parenting schedule and you have the kids the majority of the time because it works for you and your kids, you should definitely think about whether a reduction in child support could be an option.

Job Change, Job Loss and Income Reduction:

Child support is based on your income.  If you lost your job, or lost income because of a job change or other reason, you should consider whether a reduction is right for your circumstances.  This doesn’t include quitting a great job so that you won’t have to pay child support.  It means that life handed you a change of job that left you with less income.  Seek out an attorney to see what they say about getting your child support reduced.

More Kids:

Maybe you have gotten remarried since your earlier divorce and now you have 1 or 2 more children.  If so, you may be a good candidate for lower child support.  The percentages drop slightly if you have other children to support in addition to the children from the divorce.  Again, seek out a family law attorney to talk about the specifics of your case and the percentages that will apply to you.

Getting divorced is just the beginning of paying child support and child support can be increased and reduced through the years.  This is just educational information and not legal advice.  Find a lawyer to talk about your life, child support and income with so they can advise you specifically.

Jill O’Connell, Family Lawyer and Divorce Attorney, can be reached at 940-497-5454.