Child support serves a valuable purpose. It allows the primary caregiver of a child to receive financial support necessary to provide for the child.
Texas child support law balances several factors when determining an amount of child support. Ideally, the amount should be one that is enough to meet the child’s needs but allows the parent paying the support to remain financially stable.
Over the course of your child’s life, your situation is likely to change at some point. The amount of child support can be modified if there is a change in your circumstances.
What is a change of circumstances?
Job loss, unexpected expenses, health issues or a loss of a household member are examples of events that can be considered a change in your circumstances, requiring a modification of your child support order.
There are several steps to complete if you want to modify your child support order. Your first step is to submit a request to modify your order. Your request should be filed through the court your child support order comes from.
The child support agency will contact you within the next 30 days. They will ask you to verify your current contact information and ask you questions about your income, as well as any health insurance coverage for your child.
Provide truthful information to the agency
You should cooperate with the child support agency. This will prevent delays in the process. The agency will conduct a thorough review based on the information that you provide to them.
They will also consider factors including any changes to your custody order, how long it has been since your order was last changed and any other major life events since your last order was put in place.
Next steps after an approval or denial
After reviewing the information and analyzing the factors, they will decide if your modification request should be approved. If it is not approved, you will receive a letter saying so.
You may challenge a denied modification request. Family law attorneys have knowledge of child support laws and can help with next steps.
Approved requests will be scheduled for an appointment or a court date. If the other parent agrees to the change, a new order will be entered at your appointment, but if they want to fight the modification, you might be headed to court.