Archives for January, 2010

Jan 27, 2010

Reducing Child Support When Income Goes Down

In re Marriage of Alter:
This is a recent case that emphasizes how important it is for you to consider reducing child support when your income goes down.

In this case the father had agreed to pay $4,000 per month child support and had agreed that the child support be non-modifiable. Specifically the parties had agreed that Father’s obligations to pay child support “shall be absolutely non-modifiable downward throughout the term that child support shall remain in effect.” However, for several reasons father’s income had dropped since agreeing to the $4,000 per month.

The court of appeals found that regardless of their prior agreement not to modify child support, that child support is modifiable at any time upon showing of a change of circumstances. This case emphasizes that the public policy in California is that child support be modifiable at any time, and that when circumstances change, the court is able to modify child support regardless of any agreement to the contrary. It would also apply to the reverse situation, if the recipient of child support lost their job or received a pay cut they could seek a child support increase.