Baltimore & Towson Lawyer Discusses Modifying Child Support
Life can bring about many changes that can alter a person's financial status in one direction or another. For individuals who are required to pay child support, financial changes might lead to the need for modifications to be made to child support payments. Your Baltimore and Towson family law attorney will tell you that child support is not automatically modified. One of the parents will need to ask the court that made the original child support award for a modification.
Child support payments can be increased or decreased, depending on the circumstances, any time before the child who is receiving support reaches the age of 18. However, parents should note that making verbal changes to child support payments is not advised, particularly where there is a court order in place. Doing so can lead to serious issues in the future.
The Ways in Which Child Support Can Be Changed
Generally, there are two ways for parents to modify child support. One way is to ask for the child support enforcement office to review the child support order for potential modification once every three years. Interested parents should be sure to put their requests in writing and detail why they are asking for the review.
Your Baltimore and Towson family law attorney will also tell you that either parent can, at any time, submit a motion to the court requesting that an existing child support order be modified. Such motions should be filed in the court where the original child support order was issued.
What Kinds of Occurrences Might Lead to a Change in Child Support?
There are a number of circumstances that can cause the need for a child support order to be modified. For instance, if a parent experiences a large increase in income, the court can order child support payments to be increased. Additionally, as a child's age increases, he or she may have more needs that are much more costly than they were when the child was younger. Whenever a child's expenses increase, the court might find it necessary to increase the child support order.
Nevertheless, parents should be aware that not all economic changes will lead to the court reconsidering the original court order for support. In order for the court to consent to modification, the changes must be what it considers "material."
Imprisonment and Poverty
The laws concerning parents who are incarcerated and required to pay child support note that any parent who gets sent to jail will not be required to pay child support while incarcerated, nor will the individual be required to make payments for the 60 days immediately following the his or her release.
With respect to impoverishment, parents who make the conscious decision to have insufficient cash flow available to cover their child support obligations might be subject to court scrutiny. If the court determines that a parent has voluntarily become insolvent, it might still choose to attribute income to the parent and make a child support determination based on that attributed income.
If you have any questions or concerns about child support modifications, contact a Baltimore and Towson family law attorney at The Law Offices of Amar Weisman, LLC. Call us today.
Call (410) 321-4994 For a Free Consultation
Call The Law Offices of Amar S. Weisman at (410) 321-4994 to schedule a Free Consultation. The Purpose of the consultation is to determine whether you want to retain this law firm as your Baltimore County & Harford County Family Lawyer. If you do wish to proceed, then you must pay a retainer. See Our Policy on Fees and Costs. The family firm is located next to The Circuit Court for Baltimore County, at 1018 Dulaney Valley Road, Towson, MD 21204.
