Santa Rosa Child Support Modification Attorney

If you are not satisfied with the child support orders that were made in your family law case and would like to have those orders modified, our qualified Santa Rosa child support modification attorney can help you determine if you qualify for a modification and give insights into what the new payment should be. Decisions that are made about child support can have a significant impact on both your finances and your children’s well-being.

Child support may be modified at any point down the road when there has been a change in circumstance from the time of the last child support order. At Embolden Law PC, we can guide you throughout the process of modifying child support in court. Schedule a free phone call with our trusted California family law attorneys who can evaluate your case and advise you on how to proceed.

Family court orders such as child support, spousal support, and child custody can all be modified to reflect changing life circumstances. Even while the divorce is still pending, you may be able to modify court orders.

Whether you need the adjustment to be short-term or permanent, our credible Santa Rosa child support modification attorneys at Embolden Law PC can help you understand what qualifies as a reason to receive a modification and how it can be done. Our family law firm is committed to:

• helping you modify a child support order in the event of a change in financial circumstances or responsibilities.
• helping you ensure that child support decisions and family court orders are made fairly and accurately.
• working closely with you to make sure your family’s needs are met when life changes occur.
• helping you prepare for the hearing, gather important evidence, and present your case to the court.
• providing a wide range of legal services including divorce, child support, child custody, and other family law matters.

Our legal team can help you ensure the child support award is appropriate, based on your state’s laws. Schedule a free phone call with our attorneys to learn more about what you need to know about asking for a child support modification in court.

Child support is a court-ordered amount that a non-custodial parent must pay to cover a certain amount of a child’s expenses. It covers essential things such as food, housing, clothing, medical care, and education. California laws regarding child support are established by very specific guidelines that examine the amount of time that the child spends with each parent and the income of both parties.

Generally, both parents are expected to support their children before and after a divorce. Children are entitled to be supported by their parents in the same way they would have been had the parents not separated. However, state laws vary significantly with respect to calculating child support and how it is regulated. In this situation, our qualified Santa Rosa child support modification lawyer can help you determine the applicable child support laws in your particular case.

Changing a child support order, known as child support modification, happens when one or both parents experience a change in their life that requires them to modify their child support order after divorce. As life goes on after a divorce, and as children get older, lifestyle changes may necessitate a revisit of the child support orders.

New circumstances may arise, ranging from new jobs to new residences, and agreements can be modified to better serve all parties involved. Sometimes both parents can reach an agreement about a change in the child support order, which they can then have approved by a judge.

Child support orders can be amended by the court at any moment. California has statutory child support standards that the court can modify if any of the variables change. If a change is required in child support due to a life event or situation, the law requires the paying parent to follow proper legal procedures.

If you do not have your child support order changed properly, this could mean financial and legal ramifications for you down the road. Our top-ranking Santa Rosa child support modification lawyer can guide you throughout the entire process.

There are a variety of reasons why either parent may wish to change the pre-existing agreements. In some states, you won’t be allowed to request a child support modification unless a certain amount of time has passed since the existing order was established.

When you’re requesting a child support modification, you must show that there has been a change in circumstances since the existing order was issued. Many developments in a parent’s life could meet the requirement of the changed circumstance. These changes must be:

• permanent
• involuntary or unexpected at the time of the existing support order
• substantial (which may mean that it would require a 10% or 20% change in the amount of support under the current guidelines)

Several situations can result in a valid modification of child support payments. Our competent Santa Rosa CA child support lawyer can help you know and understand the reasons for modifying child support orders.

Significant Income Changes 

Significant income changes would either raise or lower the overall child support obligation. The most common reason to seek a child support modification is that the paying parent has had an increase in income that would require them to pay more in child support. This could be through a raise, inheritance, or promotion. The requirement is that the new financial situation is permanent as opposed to temporary.

If one parent loses their job, he or she may be unable to meet child support obligations. A decrease in income can also be the grounds for a modification. Because the states’ child support calculation is often based on parents’ income levels, some of the most common reasons parents ask to have their payments lowered are:

• when they’ve been laid off
• had their work hours reduced
• could no longer work because of long-term illness, disability, or incarceration

Change in Parenting Time

Because parenting time is an important factor used to calculate child support, a judge may be responsive to your request. The amount of time you spend providing hands-on childcare and housing influences your child support amount. The willingness of the other parent to adopt the parenting time change could aid your case as well.

Change in Child’s Needs

As time goes by, children move through many stages on their journey toward adulthood, and their expenses can go up and down for various reasons. Child support guidelines also generally consider children’s special medical, educational, or other extraordinary needs. Therefore, any significant and ongoing change in those needs could justify a support modification. A custodial parent might seek additional child support to assist in the costs associated with aging children or children whose needs have changed.

Increase or Decrease in the Number of Children Being Supported

If the paying parent remarries and/or has other children, the obligations and expenses will change. Child support formulas typically include adjustments when a parent is also supporting children from another relationship. 

In that case, they might petition the court to decrease their child support obligation to one child, which would allow them to provide an equal level of support to all of their children. On the other hand, if a parent remarries, this may increase his or her income, which could lead to an increase in monthly child support payments.

Navigating the child support modification process can be complicated. It requires paperwork, mediation, and court hearings. Seeking legal assistance from our seasoned Santa Rosa child support modification attorneys at Embolden Law PC can help alleviate some of the stress and confusion, ensuring a quick and easy modification process.

Our family law firm offers legal assistance for a range of family law cases such as divorce, legal separation, child custody, alimony, family modifications, and other issues involving families or domestic relationships. We also assist in resolving legal matters on business law, real estate law, employment law, workplace investigations as well as financial disputes and litigation in Santa Rosa and communities around Sonoma County, California. If you have any questions or