Can You Modify Your Child Support After an Income Reduction?

You don’t mind paying child support because you understand that it is helping your child in the wake of the divorce. You care about your child, and you want them to have everything that they need. Child support helps to provide that, and it’s your responsibility as their parent.

At the same time, you do have a budget and other financial obligations to worry about. The amount that you’re paying in child support is likely connected, at least in part, to your income level at the time of the divorce. But if that income has dropped since then, your payments may have become unaffordable. Can you stop paying because you no longer have the income to do so?

A new court order is necessary

It’s important to remember not to just stop making the payments or lowering them. You are still bound by the court order. Even if your income level has gone down, you have to make the payments that you were ordered to make.

If you do need to change those payments because of your lower income, you can seek to have the court order modified. In some cases, the court will reassess the situation and release a new order. For instance, you may be paying $1,000 a month, and the court can reduce it to $500 a month. However, it’s very important to get the court order and not just make the reduction yourself.

Financial complications often arise after a divorce, and this is just one example. Take the time to carefully look into your legal options at this time.