Child support payments are often a contentious subject for many couples involved in a divorce with children. While the amount of the child support payment is mechanical, in that the Missouri legislature has created a formula and there is a table that indicates the amount of support owed for a specific gross income.
But that table is only part of the discussion, and income of both parents, the property they own and type of parenting plan they have will affect the final amount ordered by the court.
Once the divorce is finalized, the life goes on. However, as life goes on, some of the conditions that were in place when the support was ordered may change. This can result in the need for the parent paying child support to request a medication.
While it is possible to have such modification granted by a Missouri court, you have to comply with all of the requirements of Missouri law and the courts. This can be complex as is demonstrated by the 36-page form used by the courts for a modification.
Simply filling this out correctly can be challenging due to the fact that with this long and involved a document, there are many opportunities to make an error or mistake.
In addition, the court must find that there was a change in circumstances so substantial that keeping the payments at their current level would be unreasonable. And divorced parents often have different opinions of what it unreasonable.
This motion often is the result of the loss of a job by the parent paying child support. In most cases, this alone will be insufficient to win a modification, as the court will presume that that parent will eventually find a new job with similar pay.
If this is not the case, you will need substantial proof of why it is not likely to occur. And because this obligation cannot be discharged in a bankruptcy, it is important to take action before the arrears become unmanageable.
