Denton Divorce Lawyer

Disability and Child Support Modification

When life circumstances change, many divorced parents consider appealing to court to modify their required child support payments. However, the courts do not always look at the current situation in recalculating the support necessary. If you want to change child support, you must prove that it is for the betterment of the child, not just for yourself.

Sometimes, you cannot predict an injury or other circumstance that will keep you from paying child support. Although it may seem cruel, courts do not always lessen your child support payments even in the case of disability. This is because you may be receiving social security disability benefits in addition to the somewhat less than “minimum income level” that you could be making. Sometimes, though, children may also receive benefit checks to help cover the child support.

Other Reasons for Modification

While courts vary in their modification laws from state to state, most courts have certain regulations in place that keep a parent from “voluntarily” lowering their income to decrease child support payments. Thus, things like going to school, becoming voluntarily unemployed, or being underemployed may still require you to pay the full child support amount. This is because courts “impute” or take into consideration what your potential income is.

There are other things that may occur in a parent or child's lives that can warrant a change in the child support plan, including:

• Increase/decrease in income
• Increased cost of living
• Increased need on behalf the child due to age, health, etc.
• Marriage of the child
• Amount of time spent with the child

Contact Us

Modifying child support requirements can be tricky. If you or someone you know is looking to change their payments, you should speak to a family lawyer about proving a definite change in circumstances.

For child support modification help, contact the Denton family attorneys of Alexander & Associates today by calling 972-420-6560.