How to have child support reevaluated

Support Modification Process | Office of the Attorney General

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If your circumstances have changed, your order may be eligible for review and modification. Here’s what to expect when you request for a modification of your child support order.

Click here to learn the steps in the modification journey

How do I request a review?

If you have an active/open child support case, you can submit an official Request for Review of your court-ordered amount.

Click here to learn about the steps in the modification journey.
Click here to complete an online modification request.

Only 1 modification request should be submitted, any additional requests can create a delay in processing.

Or click here to download, complete, and mail the "Request for Review" form to the Child Support Division.

Send the completed form to:

Office of the Attorney General
Child Support Division
P.O. Box 12017
Austin, TX 78711-2017

ELIGIBILITY FOR A MODIFICATION

Your child support order is eligible for modification only if one (or more) of the following is true:

The order was established/last modified more than three years ago; and
The monthly amount of the child support order differs by either (a) 20% or (b) $100 from the amount that would be awarded, according to child support guidelines.

A material and substantial change in circumstances has occurred since the child support order was last set.

WHAT IS A "MATERIAL AND SUBSTANTIAL CHANGE IN CIRCUMSTANCES"?

In relation to receiving a payment modification, this phrase applies to one of these situations:

The noncustodial parent's income has increased or decreased.
The noncustodial parent is legally responsible for additional children.
The child's (or children's) medical insurance coverage has changed.

The child (or children) are now living with a different parent.

HOW TO CHANGE A CHILD SUPPORT ORDER

There are only two ways a child support order can be changed:

An in-office negotiation — known as the Child Support Review Process (CSRP)
Court hearing

Informal agreements between parents do not change the court-ordered amount. That can be changed only by a court hearing or the CSRP.

COULD MY PAYMENT AMOUNT GO UP IF I REQUEST A MODIFICATION?

Yes. It is possible that the amount of child support you are ordered to pay could go up.

Modifications are based on the noncustodial parent's current income. If you are making more money now than you were when the child support order was established or last modified, the court may increase the amount of child support you are ordered to pay.

Visit the Child Support Calculator. Enter your current income to estimate what your child support payment might be.

Florida Dept. of Revenue - Changing a Support Order

An order to pay child support can be changed (or modified) by the court or administrative agency that issued the order if the circumstances of either parent change after the order is issued. Until an order is changed, terminated or vacated, the amount ordered is owed and legally enforceable. To understand how the law applies in your situation, you should seek legal advice from a licensed attorney.

Do I Qualify for a Review of my Child Support Order?

How to Request a Change to a Support Order

Either parent with a child support case can ask the Child Support Program to review their support order to see if the order should be changed. Parents can also file a petition in circuit court to change their support order.

What Happens When You Ask the Child Support Program to Review Your Support Order

First, the parent making the request gives their financial and other information to the Child Support Program for review. Once this information is received, the Program contacts the other parent to obtain their information. The Program reviews the parents' information to determine if there is a substantial, permanent, and involuntary change, or it appears there are other legal grounds to change the order. When the Program completes the review, it mails the results to both parents.

If the Program Determines the Order Should Change

If the review shows the order should be changed, the Program may start a proceeding to change the order. The steps to change an order depend on whether the order is a court order, an administrative support order issued by the Program or if another state issued the order. To change a court order, the Program involves a Program attorney who handles the court action. To change an administrative support order, the Program starts by notifying the parents of the proceeding to change the order. Parents are entitled to a formal hearing before a court or administrative order is changed.

If the support order was issued by another state, that state may need to review and modify the order, if appropriate. If that is the case and you make the request to the Program, we will forward your request to the other state.

If the Program Determines the Order Should Not Change

If the Program determines the order should not change, we notify the parents of our decision and take no further action.

What is a Change in Circumstances?

The parent seeking to change (or modify) a support order has the burden to prove a change in circumstances. In most cases, before an order can be changed, a parent's change in circumstances must be substantial, permanent, and involuntary.

If it has been less than three years since the support order was issued, reviewed or changed, a substantial change means that the change in circumstances would cause a change in the order amount that is at least 15 percent but not less than $50. If it has been more than three years since the support order was issued, reviewed, or changed, a change in circumstances means the change would cause a change in the order amount of at least 10 percent but not less than $25.

A permanent change in circumstances depends on the specific facts of the case. In most cases, to prove a permanent change, one must show the change has lasted for six months or more. Temporary or short-term changes are not enough to prove a lasting, permanent change. For example, a loss of employment is not a permanent change if you expect to find new employment. In some cases, a parent may be able to prove a permanent change right away; for example, a severe, life-changing injury or illness or retirement at the normal retirement age.

An involuntary change, comes about through no fault of the parent, like an extended illness or employment layoff. A voluntary change is a result of the parent's own choices. A voluntary change does not meet the standard for a support order to be changed. Examples of voluntary changes include quitting a job, being terminated for reasons within the parent's control, taking a lower paying job, or engaging in criminal conduct that results in incarceration.

Note: A support order change (modification) involves applying the law to the specific facts of the case. The general principles here are only a partial statement of the law and are not legal advice. Only a licensed attorney is authorized to provide legal advice based on the specific circumstances of your case.

Other Resources

Either parent can file their own petition in circuit court to change (modify) a support order. You can hire a lawyer of your choosing or file your own petition and represent yourself. Other resources you may find helpful include:

Florida Courts Self-Help Page for Child Support
Find a Florida Courts Self-Help Center Near You
Florida Courts Self-Help Resources
Download the Florida Courts Help App | Google Play Store | Apple App Store
Florida Bar Legal Referral Service
Florida.FreeLegalAnswers.org

Reducing and recalculating child support - Legal advice

Alexey Klimkin (Moscow) 11/24/2016 Heading: Courts

I have two children. The first wife died, the daughter is an orphan by her mother. We are divorced from the mother of the second child (son). In January 2016, my ex-wife filed a lawsuit for the recovery of alimony for her son, the court appointed them in the amount of 1/4 of my income as for one child. The presence of my eldest daughter as a dependent was not taken into account when calculating alimony. The daughter is a difficult teenager, in the spring of 2016 she ran away from home, ended up in the SRC, then in a shelter. In August 2016, the guardianship authorities, through the court, deprived me of parental rights and collected alimony for my daughter from the date she entered the shelter (since July 2016) in the amount of 1/6 of my income (taking into account the fact that I already have maintenance obligations for my son ). Guided by the fact that alimony was collected for my daughter, in October 2016 I filed a lawsuit to reduce the alimony for my son to 1/6 and recalculate them from 1/4 to 1/6 from July (the moment the decision was made to assign child support to my daughter). The defendant (ex-wife) agreed with the claim, during the consideration of the case in the Magistrate's Court she repeatedly stated "Yes, I agree that until July 2016 my son will receive alimony in the amount of 1/4, and from July in the amount of 1/6, since a decision was made on alimony for the eldest child. On November 21, 2016, the justice of the peace issued a decision that I do not understand. He satisfied the claim regarding the reduction of alimony for his son to 1/6, but only from the moment the court decision entered into force, i.e. from the end of December. And he refused to recalculate alimony from July to December without reference to any legal norms. Is such a decision of the judge legal, especially given the full consent of the defendant with the claim? How can I get a recalculation so that from July alimony is 1/3 of my income for two children? For reference: to date, the bailiffs have not made any calculations on me at all.

Alimony, Judgment

Andrey Komissarov

Consultations: 40

This court decision is legal.

Art. 81 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation in the absence of an agreement on the payment of alimony, alimony for minor children is collected by the court from their parents on a monthly basis in the amount of: for one child - one quarter, for two children - one third, for three or more children - half of the earnings and (or) other parents' income.

Clause 1 of Art. 119 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation establishes that if, in the absence of an agreement on the payment of alimony, after the amount of alimony has been established in court, the financial or marital status of one of the parties has changed, the court has the right, at the request of either party, to change the established amount of alimony.

Refusing to satisfy the request for recalculation, the judge took into account the explanation contained in paragraph 24 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of October 25, 1996 No. 9 “On the application by the courts of the Family Code of the Russian Federation when considering cases of establishing paternity and collecting alimony”, according to which, in case of a change in the amount of alimony previously established by the court for children and other family members, their recovery in the newly established amount is made from the date the court decision on this comes into force.

The application of the provisions of this decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation is mandatory for all lower courts, therefore, there are no legal grounds for recalculating alimony in court.

According to Part 2 of Art. 39 of the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, the court does not accept the plaintiff's refusal of the claim, the recognition of the claim by the defendant and does not approve the settlement agreement of the parties if this is contrary to the law or violates the rights and legitimate interests of other persons. Thus, the recognition of the claim by your ex-wife regarding the recalculation of legal significance does not matter.

If your ex-spouse agrees to the recalculation, you can make all the settlements with her yourself. If an overpayment has occurred on the effective date of the decision, these funds can be set off against future payments. If during this period the money has not yet been written off by bailiffs and there is a debt, you can draw up receipts that your ex-spouse has already received money from you in the amount of the difference between 1/4 and 1/6. Prepared documents must be submitted to the bailiffs.

Thanks:

Appealing the calculation of alimony arrears

In the matter of alimony, determining their amount is extremely important. As you know, there are two ways to do this: a definition in a fixed amount of money and a definition in terms of the income of the alimony payer. The amount of alimony to be collected is determined by the court. In the future, the party in whose favor alimony was assigned has the right to apply to the state executive service or to a private executor for the purpose of enforcement if the payer evades fulfilling his obligations.

There are also many problems and difficulties at the stage of enforcement of alimony decisions. The main problem for the claimant is the debtor's evasion from paying the funds awarded for maintenance and the delay in payment. Misunderstandings and problems also arise in law-abiding debtors. The main one is the erroneous calculation of alimony debt, which is carried out by the contractor. There are several reasons for this.

Consider the mistakes that performers make when calculating alimony arrears. How can I appeal against the calculation of the state executor and when should I contact a lawyer for alimony.

According to the Family Code of Ukraine, the amount of alimony debt is calculated by the state bailiff, private bailiff, and in the event of a dispute - by the court. It is worth noting that there are many grounds for appealing the calculation of alimony arrears and they are very different. Next, let's pay attention to two common cases, but they are far from the only ones.

Accrual of debt on alimony for the absence of payments

The situation of abuse by the claimant is quite common. The situation is typical and very common - alimony is paid in cash without receiving receipts or on a card, but without indicating the purpose of the payment. After some time, the creditor declares that he did not receive payments, which he indicates to the contractor and receives a calculation of the debt, which actually does not exist.

Upon receipt of such a calculation, the payer must immediately submit to the contractor all payment documents for the payment of alimony that he has. It is also worth doing this with a cover letter, where you clearly describe when the payment was made and ask for a recalculation.

You need to know that the contractor, in accordance with the law, is obliged to make a monthly calculation, and at the request of the claimant or debtor, send them a copy of such calculation.

Concerning evidence. If payments were made in cash and there are no corresponding receipts, then it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to prove the fact of payments, without agreements with the claimant.

Another thing is when there is confirmation of the transfer of funds, but the purpose of the payment is not specified. For the most part, state executors do not enroll such payments as alimony and accrue a debt. In this case, it is necessary to prove the opposite through the court

Alimony for sole proprietorship on a single tax

Many disputes have arisen and continue to arise regarding the calculation of the amount of alimony to payers who are registered as individual entrepreneurs and are on a simplified taxation system. The very nature of the single tax does not provide for determining the real income of the entrepreneur, but only the gross income is declared. In this case, the real profit of the entrepreneur is usually significantly less.

For the time being, the executors did not pay any attention to this and calculated the debt based on the declared gross income of the entrepreneur. In 2017, amendments were made to the Family Code of Ukraine and it is provided that the alimony debt of a payer who is registered as an FLP and is on a simplified taxation system, as well as to a non-working payer, is determined based on the average salary of an employee for a given area (where the payer lives ).

Unfortunately, this did not completely solve the problem, and some contractors still require information from the tax authorities and consider the debt based on the gross income of the sole proprietors.

In this case, you also need to go to court and prove your case. It is worth noting that the practice of the Supreme Court in such situations is on the side of the payers.

How to appeal the calculation of alimony arrears

First of all, you need to remember that the deadline for filing a complaint is 10 days from the day the person received the calculation. Therefore, we advise you not to hesitate, but to immediately contact a family lawyer.

A complaint is filed against the actions of the bailiff to the court that issued the writ of execution (usually the court that issued the decision to collect alimony). Complaints are not filed directly to the contractor or the head of the GIS body by the debtor and will not give any result.

However, if certain payment documents or receipts were not previously submitted to the contractor, then it is necessary to act differently.