If a judge handled your child support case in California, you may think that your order is final and can’t be changed. But suddenly, you find out that your ex does not agree with the order and wants it to be changed. Perhaps they believe that the judge was being unfair and that the order amount was too much. If the other parent does not agree with the order, they may want to file a motion to ask the judge to change the order.
The judge in your case will expect you to try and work out the issue on your own, if possible. But, perhaps, you do not agree that the order should be changed. Maybe you have been supporting your child by yourself for some time and believe that your ex should be making payments even though they don’t have the best career. If your ex decides that it is not working and wants to go back to court, they have the right to do so through a motion. They will oppose the other party’s requests and a hearing will be held so that the judge can get an idea of what they are facing.
Is There Good Reason?
One thing that must be evident is that there has to be good reason for a change in the child support order. Has the income of you or the other parent changed? Has one parent lost their job or been incarcerated? Did the other parent have a child to another relationship and will not be supporting two children? Was there a significant change in how much time the other parent spends with the child? If this is so, there is good reason for a modification and you could end up back in court.
However, if the other parent has requested a modification, this does not mean that they have “locked in” their reason to stop paying the full amount. What does that mean? That means, if the parent has filed but you have not gone before a judge, they must still pay the amount that they were on the original order. If they do not, they could be in contempt of the order.
In many cases, a party should only file for court if they have re-calculated the amount of child support in their case and determined that the change was great enough. If you believe that a modification in your case is unjust and want to challenge this, you should have an attorney on your side to help you. Call us today for help with your child support case.
