When should you seek child support modification?

Child support is designed to bridge the financial gap parents and children encounter when their family files for divorce. Since children deserve financial and emotional support from both their mother and father, child support helps to ensure children enjoy the same quality of life that they would have if their parents would have stayed together. Oklahoma utilizes the income shares model of child support, which factors in the income of both parents when calculating the support amount.

Life is full of unexpected changes, and as a result, circumstances that exist when the divorce decree takes effect may also change. Whether you are the custodial parent who is unable to make ends meet with the current child support amount or you are the non-custodial parent who is unable to make the current payments, you may wish to seek child support modification.

There are several circumstances that constitute a change in child support. These may include the following:

• A parent loses a job resulting in a significant decrease in income

• A parent becomes incarcerated

• A parent moves far away and is unable to keep up the current parenting schedule

• A parent or child receives a major medical diagnosis

• A parent loses their home

The Oklahoma Department of Human Resources may initiate a child support review every three years or if someone requests a modification. In general, officials will not conduct a review if it has been less than 12 months or if the change in circumstances is temporary in nature. The change must cause a significant effect of the child support amount.