Responding to a Motion to Change or Get a Child Support Order

Either parent can file a Motion Regarding Support in an existing family law case. A Motion Regarding Support is used to ask the court to start, raise or lower child support. If the other parent in your family law case files a Motion Regarding Support, you have a chance to respond. Read this article to learn how to file a Response to Motion Regarding Support in your family law case.

Child support is a parent’s court-ordered payment to help with the costs of raising a child. Child support normally includes a base amount, plus amounts for health and child care costs. Child support can be ordered in a paternity or custody case (if the parents were never married), in a divorce case, or as a support case.

Do you have children and are getting a divorce? Or are you involved in a child support, paternity, or custody case with your child’s other parent? If so, you will probably be involved with the Friend of the Court. This article explains what the Friend of the Court is, when it may become involved in your case, and what to expect when it does.

If you owe child support debt (“arrears”) that you can't afford to pay, you can ask for a payment plan to pay a set amount for a certain number of months, and then have the remaining debt canceled. If you only owe arrears to the state, you can ask the Friend of the Court to discharge state-owed debt instead.

If your child’s other parent owes child support debt (“arrears”) and can't afford to pay, they can ask for a payment plan to pay a set amount for a certain number of months, and then have the remaining debt canceled. Read this article to learn about your rights in this situation.

Mediation is a settlement process that can help you resolve “contested” issues (things you and the other party don’t agree on) in your court case.