If you are a parent who is paying or receiving child support in Colorado, you may find yourself in a situation where you need the amount of support to get modified. It’s important to know how to go about modifying a child support order to achieve a desirable outcome.
Why should you modify a child support order?
There are a few reasons why you might want to modify your child support order. Perhaps your income has changed, and you can no longer afford the same amount of support. Maybe the other parent’s income has increased, making them capable of paying more. Alternatively, the needs of the child have changed; they may require more support for medical expenses, for example. Other common reasons that parents seek to modify child support orders include changes in custody arrangements and the emancipation of the child.
What to consider when modifying a child support order
If you are seeking to modify your child support order, there are a few things that you will need to take into consideration. First, you will need to look at the current child support order and see if there is any language in there that specifies how the order can be modified. If so, you will need to follow those procedures. If not, you will need to file a petition with the family law court that issued the original order.
You will also need to look at your state’s child support guidelines to see if there are any changes that would warrant a modification to the current order. For example, in some states, if the income of either parent has changed by a certain percentage, that may be grounds for modification.
Finally, you will need to think about what kind of modification you are seeking. Are you looking for a temporary change or a permanent one? Do you want the other parent to pay more or less child support?
Whether you’re the parent paying or receiving child support, if you find yourself in a situation where you need to modify the amount of support, it’s important to know how to go about it. Be sure to consider all of the factors involved in modifying a child support order before taking any action.