How to Get the Father of My Child to Pay More Support
If you have a child support order in place and you believe that you should be receiving more support from your child’s Father than you are currently receiving, you can file a petition to modify child support. It is important to note that you need a valid basis to seek such relief. As a general rule you can seek to modify the support amount if there is a substantial change in circumstances. That can mean that the Father now earns more or you now earn less than when the last support order was entered. The change also needs to be a substantial one. You cannot, for example, seek modification simply because the Father is now earning a few more dollars a month. The law does not want parties overloading the court with petitions filed every time someone gets a minor raise. Although you need some legitimate basis to present to the Court to support your claim that the Father is earning significantly more income, you do not have to be able to prove it prior to filing a petition. Once you file a petition to modify child support, the court will order the parties to exchange financial documents and financial affidavits and each side will need to adequately disclose income and assets and you will be able to get documentation to support your petition. An example of what might be considered a valid basis to believe that a modification is warranted is when you learn that the Father has changed jobs and has received a promotion to a better job. That would give you a reasonable basis to conclude that his income has significantly increased. Another example might be when you learn that the Father has made some extravagant purchases that indicate that he may have an income that is much higher than he previously earned.
Once the parties’ finances have been adequately disclosed, a calculation can then be performed for the recommended child support amount based on the parties’ current circumstances. The calculation of the statutory recommended support amount is unfortunately a complicated task. Although there are some free support calculators available online to give rough estimates and provide a good starting point, it is a good idea to also seek the assistance of an attorney who has the necessary knowledge and resources to perform the necessary calculations and take into consideration all of the specific facts relevant to your situation.