Child support is meant for the benefit of the child and not for the parents. However, child support payments can be hard on your income if you are not doing well. It can be one of your largest monthly bills if you are not careful. Here I outline ways how to lower child support for those who financially need to adjust their payments.
Basics
If you are looking for ways to decrease your monthly child support payments, chances are that you’re in a rough financial situation. You can use this as an argument that your child support payments should be lowered. But how exactly do you do that?
Financial Disclosures
It is always important to disclose everything regarding your financials. That way you can make sure that the court has the most up to date records regarding your income. The court will want to know if your income has dropped because you lost your job. This is known as changed financial circumstances and it is the most common way to reducing child support payments.
Custody Schedules
The most important thing to realize with trying to lower your child support is that your payments are based on the custodial time you have with your child. This means that if you spend less time with your kid, then you have to pay more child support to the other parent. Since the other parent will have more time with the child, he or she will be the custodial parent.
However, it is improper to argue for a change of custody just so that you will pay less child support. This is never a good idea and can negatively impact your case. If you are the custodial parent and you suspect that the other parent in your case might be trying to change custody to pay less child support, you will have to speak with an attorney to discuss how you can argue to the judge that the other parent is retaliating. The way to change the custody schedule is the same argument for changing child support: you have to show changed circumstances and that it is in the best interest of the child. Changed circumstances is some event or reason (such as losing your job or violence by the other parent) as to why you should get more time with your child.
How can I help?
If you have any more question about how to lower child support, divorce, or child custody please contact me for a consultation at levon@kevorkianlawoffices.com or call 626-227-1176 and ask to speak with me. Connect with me on Google+.
Click here to learn more about child custody basics in California. For more information on how to get joint custody, click here. For information on spousal support, read my blog posts on the fourteen factors used to determine alimony here. Click here to go to my website’s section on child custody.
Disclaimer: This blog post, and other blog posts by me, are not meant to be legal advice. No attorney-client relationship will be formed by these blog posts.
