Many times we get phone calls from individuals who have fallen on bad times financially. They want to know if they are entitled to receive child support or obligated to pay child support. At the Law Office of William S. Orth, we can help answer that question. If child support is already a part of your life, we can also help you to determine if the court would modify your child support, whether you are receiving child support or paying child support. Many people call and begin the conversation by saying “My child’s Mother/Father is making more money – what can I do?  Or they may ask “I am obligated to pay child support but my income has decreased and I can’t afford what I was order to pay – what can I do?” What you can do is file a Supplemental Petition to Modify Final Judgment. This pleading seeks to modify the terms that were reached in either a divorce action or paternity action. 

A person may file a Supplemental Petition to Modify things other than child support.  One example is timesharing, or what was formerly known as visitation.  If a substantial change in circumstances exists, there may be reason for a party to ask the court to either increase time they spend with the children or decrease the time the other party spends with the children.  This can include the concept formerly known as custody.  Another example is alimony.  Some types of alimony are modifiable in that either party can ask the court to increase or decrease periodic alimony payments.  These requests operate similarly to requests to modify child support payments.

You must have had a substantial change in circumstances to file this pleading. This means more than a minor increase or decrease in income or an isolated incident that exposed the child to harm. At the Law Offices of William S. Orth, P.A. we can help you to determine if you should file for a modification.