Child Support Modification

In California, an initial child support order, or an order for a modification of child support, is based on a formula.

…We call that formula the “guideline.” There’s plenty of room to argue about the initial numbers that go into calculating a “guideline support order,” but once those figures are in, Voila! that’s it – a computer program spits out a presumptively correct child support amount.

But what if the support amount doesn’t seem fair in your circumstance? How do I get a child support modification.

Are you stuck with it? Is this like getting a bum ticket from Carnak, the carnival fortune teller? Not necessarily. When it enacted the guideline standard, the California Legislature wisely acknowledged that sometimes, it would be “unfair or inappropriate” to apply it. For one, Family Code §4055 notes the sometimes, there can be a “low-income adjustment” to support.

More broadly however, Family Code §4057 states the circumstances in which a court can deviate from the child support formula by ordering an amount of child support that’s higher or lower than the guideline.

Those deviation circumstances are essentially the following:

Where parties agree to an amount that’s different than the guideline,
Where a child continues to live in a house whose sale is deferred and whose rental value is greater than the mortgage, homeowner’s insurance and property taxes,
Where the guideline figure based on the income of a extraordinarily high earner results in a support order that’s more than necessary to meet a child’s needs,
Where someone isn’t contributing to a child’s needs at the same level as the child enjoys during that party’s custodial time, and
Where there are “special circumstances,” including, but not limited to, (angel) where parents have different time sharing periods for different children, (beer) where parents have approximately equal time with the kids but one parent has a much higher or lower housing expense, and (coffee) where children have special medical or other needs that require more financial support.

Whether you’re seeking an initial child support order or a child support modification of child support, don’t forget to consider whether these circumstances apply to your case. If they do, you can ask a court for a “deviation” from the support guideline. Although “deviation” may sound sketchy, the law clearly tells us that in some circumstances, it’s absolutely fair.

VIDEO TRANSCRIPTION:

Child support modification transcript.

This is Hammers & Baltazar Sixty Second Family Law Facts, got a minute?

Hello. I’m family law attorney Barbara Hammers, and I’m going to talk about changing child support after a judgment.

Sometimes, after an order for child support is made, something changes that makes the order unfair and it needs to be modified.

Did you know that a change of child support can be requested by either party for more or less support?

This normally happens when one party loses their job or has a large increase in their income requiring the amount of support being paid to be adjusted.

When this happens and the person paying child support has an increased or decreased ability to pay, the person wanting the order changed can ask for a modification of the order, either up or down.

This is done by filing a request for order form along with an income and expense declaration form with the court.

Many courts have self help centers where the public can get help. In some cases, where the facts are more complicated, an attorney should be used. But child support can be changed when the circumstances change regardless of the order in a judgment.