Q & A: Can my fiance take his ex-wife back to modify their child support if income changes?

Q.  My fiancé has joint custody of his three children with his ex-wife.  Even though they share the children 50/50, he is paying almost $900 a month for financial child support.  His ex-wife makes three times the amount of income he does.  Can he take the issue back to court to have the child support refigured?   Could she quite possibly be paying HIM child support due to her high income?

A.  When your fiancé and his ex-wife got a divorce, chances are, these arrangements were made in their divorce decree and the child support arrangements were taken care of then as well.  The most important thing to consider is what they were both making at the time of the divorce.  During a divorce, the income of each parent is put together to figure out who pays whom, how much each parent pays, and all of this is relative to the income and lifestyle that the children and other parent enjoyed while being married.

If it’s been a few years and incomes have changed, your fiancé can definitely take the issue back to court for what’s called “child support modification.”  At this court date, the judge will consider how much each parent makes NOW and what is in the best interest of the children.  If the payments that your fiancé is making to his ex-wife are causing undue hardships and straining his financial situation, chances are his child support payments will be lowered, based on his ex-wife’s current income alone.  In fact, with 50/50 custody, she may end up paying him, depending on how the court determines the child support in your state.