Child Support Modification Question?
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DH has 50/50 joint legal custody week on week off. 6 months ago Child support was ordered at 1,000 , yes thats with the same amount of custody over 1 kid! Bm makes much less than DH on top of all the overtime DH was working. So now DH has a new job he Loves! the old job was very stressful and required hours and hours of overtime just to complete. His new job no overtime and its about half of what he made at the other job. Also just got information that BM got an upward position at her job since the last modification. Is 6 months too soon to modify? Will they make DH pay for BM attorney fees if he is still paying attorney fees from last court date when he was making all that money? DH was going to modify without an attorney. .any advice?
In our state, there are
In our state, there are online forms to request CS modification without an attorney. In my experience, 3 years is the normal timeframe to reevaluate CS issues. UNLESS, there is a significant change in either household ... job change or loss, etc. 'Significant' may mean 10% or it may mean a 25% change, I don't know what is typical in your area.
Glad your DH is happier.
To my knowledge most states
To my knowledge most states have a 2 year horizon for CS mods unless there is a significant change of circumstance. I would say a notable decrease in income for your DH and a notable increase in income for BM may qualify as a significant change of circumstance and justify a CS mod hearing.
Check your state and county regs. As Indigo indicated, some states do have different CS mod horizon requirements.
In our experience being stuck with the opposition's legal costs is rare but as with all things to do with family law court and the idiots that tend to run them, take the opposition to court at your own risk. Stupid shit is a common output from a system run by the bottom 10%ers of the legal profession and the bottom 10%ers of the employable who manage the process.
All in my layman’s opinion and experience of course.
If changing jobs was his
If changing jobs was his choice, the court may not give any modification. They might look at it as him trying to reduce child support. In our area, the change in job has to be due to unforeseen circumstances, not a choice. We also have a three year period.
From what I know, and in my
From what I know, and in my state if there is a significant change in income you can request a review. The BM's income doesn't make a difference.
From our experience DH was
From our experience DH was taken to court by BM for child support; the court based the support payment on both DH and BM income and overnights spent in each household. 3 weeks later DH lost one of his jobs (he was working 2), we did a motion to go back to court and have child support decreased. The court system then took a look at both DH and BM income, based on only having one job with the letter DH received from the other company stating it was no longer in business, they reduced CS.
The courts should only look at income/overnights not that employer was changed. People change jobs for many reasons, and for the courts to assume changing a job with a lower income just to reduce CS is bull.