How to get your child support lowered

How to Lower Child Support Payments | Child Support Reduce

Where You Need a Lawyer:

Zip Code or City:

(This may not be the same place you live)

Choose a Legal Category:

Most Common Family Issues:

Please provide a valid Zip Code or City and choose a category

Please choose a category from the list

Please select a city from the list and choose a category

Please enter a valid zip code or city

Please select a city from the list

Connecting …

Are You a Lawyer? Grow Your Practice

What is a Child Support Order?

Child support is a recurring monetary payment meant to help support a child or children whose parents are no longer living together. Factors taken into consideration include:

Custody Arrangement: Child support payments are almost always ordered to be paid to the parent that has been granted custody of the child. This is because the custodial parent will naturally incur more expenses related to the child (e.g. food, clothing, extracurricular activities).
Lifestyle Prior to Separation: In situations where the child lived with both parents prior to the parents’ separation, the court will consider the lifestyle that the child was accustomed to when the parents were together in order to minimize disruption in the child’s life. For example, in the case of a child who has always attended an expensive private school, the court will likely order that the non-custodial parent provide enough financial support to allow the child to continue in the same type of school environment.
Income of the Parties: The court will require both parents to submit proof of their total income so that each parent’s financial means can be used to determine how much support should be paid.

The overarching goal in entering custody or child support orders is to do what is in the best interest of the child.

What Does a Child Support Order Usually Contain?

A child support order will declare which parent is ordered to pay support, the monthly amount due, obligations to help pay for daycare or provide health insurance, and a termination date for the payments. Child support orders involving multiple children will usually lay out the dates when the child support obligation will lessen based on one or more children reaching the age of majority.

The order will also almost always contain a brief summary of the consequences for non-payment and an overview of what must be done to alter the child support order.

Can Child Support Be Lowered or Changed Because of Financial Circumstances?

A child support order can change over time as a result of changing circumstances. If the paying parent thinks that the amount of child support should be reduced, they can request a child support reduction. A reduction is most often ordered due to changes in a parent’s financial situation (loss of job, etc.).

How often a child support order can be altered is almost always limited, usually by requiring a certain period of time to pass before a change can be requested. This is because if there were no limits on how often an order can be updated, the courts would be completely overloaded with modification requests from parents not satisfied with the order entered.

How Can I Get My Child Support Payment Lowered?

In order to change child support payments, a parent must file a Motion to Modify. This is a formal request asking the courts to consider changing the child support order previously entered. The court is not required to grant the Motion to Modify, and usually requires proof that circumstances have changed substantially enough to warrant the change.

Requests to lower child support payments are most often granted as a result of:

Changes in Income: Usually if the paying parent’s income is substantially less than when the child support obligation was calculated. This could be after the parent loses a job, becomes incarcerated, or becomes disabled.
Changes in the Custody Arrangement: Modifications will also frequently be granted if the custody arrangement changes so that the paying parent naturally incurs more routine expenses to support the child.
Change in Costs Taken into Consideration: A steep increase in health insurance costs could mean that a paying parent’s monthly child support payment will be lowered to reflect that.

What Else Should I Know About Lowering Child Support for Financial Reasons?

A parent may also be able to get the amount of child support lowered as a result of increased educational or extracurricular costs. If the parent can provide proof that they are now paying significantly more each month for such an expense, then the court may consider lowering the monthly child support payment.

The courts may also lower a parent’s child support obligation if additional children are born to the parent. Most states assess child support obligations based on the idea that a certain percentage of the parent’s income should go towards supporting their children. If the calculation was based on having a single child, and that parent later has children with a new spouse, then the amount of their income that the courts feel should go towards supporting children must now be spread out between all of the children.

What Happens if a Child Support Order is Violated?

A parent who is ordered to pay child support will face several consequences if they don’t pay, including:

Fines, jail, or both
Garnishment of wages, including unemployment and worker’s compensation
Seizure of tax refunds
Revocation of passport
Suspension, revocation or denial of various licenses — professional, driver’s, hunting/fishing/boating

Should I Hire an Attorney if I Want to Lower My Child Support Payments?

While it is possible to get your child support payments lowered on your own, it is usually a good idea to at least consult an attorney before attempting so. Hiring a child support lawyer to seek the reduction in child support for you will almost always result in a quicker and more successful result.

Abigail Stark

LegalMatch Legal Writer

Original Author

Abby has a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and supported men and women with developmental disabilities for over a decade before earning her Juris Doctorate in 2017. She still serves on the local committee responsible for reviewing the necessity of any rights restrictions imposed on individuals with developmental disabilities. Her favorite part of law school and practicing law is the research and writing. When not working, Abby loves being outside, spending time with family, watching documentaries, and cooking. You can learn more about her from her Linkedin profile.

Jose Rivera

Managing Editor

Editor

Last Updated: Aug 10, 2020

Law Library Disclaimer

Page Not Found | LegalMatch

Sorry, the page you are looking for could not be found.

I Need A Lawyer Now

Back to Home page

Learn more about your legal issue. Choose your legal category:

Family
Employment
Criminal Defense
Real Estate
Business
Immigration

Personal Injury
Wills, Trusts & Estates
Bankruptcy & Finances
Government
Products & Services
Intellectual Property

Other categories

Reducing the amount of alimony \ Acts, samples, forms, contracts \ Consultant Plus

Main
Legal resources
Collections
Reducing the amount of alimony

A selection of the most important documents upon request Reducing the amount of alimony (legal acts, forms, articles, expert advice and much more).

Alimony:
Maintenance obligations of children to support their parents
Alimony obligations of spouses
Alimony in 6-NDFL
Alimony in a solid amount of
Alimony of individual entrepreneur
more . ..

: reduction in the amount of alimony

Judicial practice : reduction
Register and get trial access to the ConsultantPlus system for free for 2 days

Open a document in your ConsultantPlus system:
Selection of court decisions for 2020: Article 80 "Obligations of parents to support minor children" of the RF IC "Declining to satisfy K.D. dated January 26, 2017, for the maintenance of K.M.’s son in the amount of 1/4 of the earnings, the courts of first and appeal instances were guided by articles 80, 81, 119 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation, paragraphs 20, 57 of the decision of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of December 26 2017 N 56 "On the application of legislation by the courts when considering cases related to the recovery of alimony" and proceeded from the fact that changing the amount of alimony (reduction or increase), taking into account the financial or marital status of the parties and other noteworthy circumstances, is the right of the court; listed in circumstances of the lawsuit, namely the birth of the second child of the plaintiff and the recovery of alimony on him are not unconditional grounds for reducing the amount of alimony for the first child, since they do not indicate that the plaintiff is unable to maintain the payment of alimony in the same amount and will entail an unreasonable deterioration in the maintenance of his son Matvey.

Register and get test access to the consultantPlus system free 2 days 2 days

Open the document in your consultantPlus system:
Selection of court decisions for 2020: Article 80 "Duties for the maintenance of minor children" SK RF
(RB Kasenov) The court partially satisfied the claims of the plaintiff to the defendant to reduce the amount of alimony to be collected. As the court pointed out, by virtue of Art. 80 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation, parents are obliged to support their minor children. Taking into account the interests of the parties, their financial and marital status, the court came to the conclusion that the plaintiff's claims were partially satisfied, considering it necessary to reduce the amount of alimony to 1/5 of all types of his earnings. At the same time, the plaintiff's arguments about the existence of grounds for reducing the amount of alimony to 1/6 were rejected by the court. As the court pointed out, the fact that the plaintiff has two more young children and the obligation to support them cannot limit the right of the first child to the necessary and decent maintenance and is not an unconditional basis for reducing the amount of alimony to 1/6 of earnings. Circumstances excluding the possibility of paying alimony in the amount established by the court and testifying to the infringement of the rights of other children of the plaintiff or indicating a violation of the rights of the person obliged to pay alimony, the plaintiff did not cite.

Articles, comments, answers to questions : Reducing the amount of alimony

Normative acts : Reducing the amount of alimony

Decree of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated December 26, 2017 N 56
"Oi collection of alimony" 8. When resolving issues on establishing the amount of alimony to be collected in a fixed amount of money (Articles 83, 85, 87, 91, 98 of the RF IC), the amount of additional expenses for children or parents (Articles 86, 88 of the RF IC), on reducing or increasing the amount of alimony levied on minor children in proportion to the earnings and (or) other income of parents (clause 2 of article 81 of the RF IC), on changing the amount of alimony established by the court or on exemption from paying alimony (article 119RF IC), on exemption from payment of alimony arrears (Article 114 of the RF IC), as well as other issues that, in accordance with the norms of Section V of the RF IC, are subject to resolution by the court, taking into account the material and marital status of the parties and other circumstances worthy of attention or interests of the parties , you must proceed from the following:

REDUCTION OF ALIMENT

home

Lawyer Blogs

to another for the maintenance of a minor child

It doesn't matter if the marriage between the parents is registered or not.

The payment of alimony can be made voluntarily or collected by the court in a compulsory manner.

Amount of alimony

The amount of alimony due per month is determined by the document on the basis of which these payments are determined. This may be an agreement, a marriage contract, a writ of execution, a court order. That is, every month the parent must receive an amount not less than prescribed.

The most common option in the Republic of Belarus is the withholding of alimony

as a percentage of income. The amount of interest depends on the number of children for whom they are collected. For one child - 25%, for two children - 33%, for three or more children - 50% of income.

However, there is a lower limit that the child support payer must pay. The minimum amount is defined as

as a percentage of the average subsistence minimum budget per capita (hereinafter - BPM).

Today it is:

50% - BMP for the maintenance of one child

100% BPM - for two children

150% BPM - for three or more children only in cases where the alimony payer does not work anywhere or has not provided documents confirming his income, or the income is less.

HOW TO LEGAL SUPPORT REDUCTION

There are a number of special circumstances where you can reduce your child support and it is absolutely legal.

- the presence of other minor children who, if alimony is collected in the established amount, would be less financially secure than children receiving alimony

- disability of the parent from whom the alimony is collected, I or II group submission of the relevant

application to the court. The payer must submit an application with documents proving special circumstances.

There is no maximum amount for child support. However, the legislation defines

the maximum amount of deductions from the income of the alimony payer. So, at least 30% of wages and income equivalent to it must be saved. That is, the maximum amount of deductions by court order is 70%.

The reduction in alimony may be temporary and will change as the payer's situation improves.

CALCULATION EXAMPLE

For example: 25% is recovered for the first child and 16.5% is recovered for the second child

. It turns out that in total, not

33% is collected (as established by law), but 41.5%. You can apply to the court and reduce the amount of child support to 16.5% for each child.

PUNISHMENT FOR EVACUATION OF ALIMENT PAYMENT

It would not be out of place to recall that in the Republic of Belarus for evasion of payment of alimony, criminal liability is assumed in some cases. In addition, the punishment imposed by the court does not relieve the obligation to repay the arrears in the payment of alimony.

You cannot start paying less on your own without waiting for the effective court decision on the reduction.

After all, reducing the amount of alimony is a right, not an obligation of the court.

"VOLUNTARY" ALIMENTS

It is also necessary to pay attention to the following point.

the demand for a reduction in the amount of alimony to be exacted may be filed only if the alimony is exacted on the basis of a court order. In the case of a voluntary procedure for paying alimony, as well as if the payment of alimony is regulated by the Marriage Agreement, the Agreement on Children or the Agreement on the Payment of Alimony, an application is filed with the court to challenge the conditions specified in the agreement or change the conditions.