If you believe you pay too much or receive too little child support, California law generally allows either parent to request support modifications.
Use our California Child Support Calculator to verify that you aren’t paying too much in support.
A recalculation will be done if any of the following is true:
- You have had one or more new children (stepchildren not included)
- Your income has gone down (or your ex’s has gone up)
- Your custody percentage has gone up
- Your original computation was incorrect
Under a court order, a father is required to pay $500 a month in child support. Over the course of several years, the father spent increasingly more time with the children, and the mother’s income increased significantly. After a recalculation, the mother ended up paying the father $400 a month in support. This is an example of a common child support modification scenario.
If you believe that child support should be lowered or raised, you should see an attorney and take action immediately. Do not sit on your rights.
If you believe you may be entitled to a child support change, it’s important to understand that modifications are NOT retroactive. In the above example, the father took action a year too late and lost around $10,000 because of his delay.
If you believe that child support should be lowered or raised, you should see an attorney and take action immediately. Do not sit on your rights.
Job Loss
If you lose your job, child support will be reduced or potentially lowered to zero. Although this may not seem like a logical time for legal action, child support payments cannot be changed unless you apply for a reduction in your obligations.
Modifications are not retroactive, and the court can’t make an adjustment because of your delayed filing. If you find yourself unemployed, immediately see an attorney and file to have your child support reduced.
It’s possible your ex-spouse will request a vocational examination, so be prepared when it comes up.