Answer:

A few weeks ago, I had a call from a past client who had previously been through a divorce and had a child support obligation but really felt that that child support obligation was unfair based on the current situation. Unfortunately, he had experienced a change of employment and his income was reduced significantly, and he could no longer afford his child support obligation. We were able to file a modification in that case. Georgia allows for you to file a modification anytime there’s a significant reduction or increase in the other party’s income or in your income. You can modify your child support obligation, also, every two years in Georgia. Even without a show of changes in financial circumstances, you can do that.

Another way to modify child support would be if you had a change of custody. Maybe your children came to live with you, and that was different than what happened in your prior divorce or custody case, and your child support needs to be modified so it would match what you’re doing with your children in your custody arrangement. In order to modify that support, you, of course, have to file a petition with the court, the judge will have to sign off on any kind of modification of child support, and you would be able to get access to the other party’s records to make sure that it is an accurate calculation. You would also be expected to give over your income records to show details about what your new custody schedule may be, and the court is going to sign off to make sure that your new child support obligation is going to match the calculator and the law in Georgia for any child support.

If you have a question about modifying your child support or having the other party’s modification of child support filed, so that you can increase or decrease any kind of obligation, please give our office a call. We can set you an appointment and talk to you about what your options are if you’d like to modify your child support.