Research & Case Law

A child support order can’t be based on speculation. The parents appeared before the court to determine custody and child support for their child. Prior to hearing, the parents agreed on a joint legal custody and a visitation schedule but the trial court determined child support. The final order granted the mother primary physical custody of the child and calculated child support using Worksheet A, which is based on one parent having less than 123 night of visitation per year. 

The federal Office of Child Support Enforcement funded the Procedural Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt (PJAC) grant to fund projects which implemented the principles of procedural justice in working with parents facing contempt. This report analyzes implementation of the PJAC model. The model includes a case review, outreach and engagement, case conference, case action plan, and case management.

Any modification to a child support order must be court approved. In 2002, the father filed for divorce. The trial court entered a temporary order requiring the father to pay support and maintenance and the mother to pay the mortgage on the marital residence. A divorce decree was entered later in 2002, but it reserved the issues of support and maintenance. In the interim, the father paid the mortgage, but didn’t pay support or maintenance. The mother requested a hearing, which the court denied.

To modify child support, a parent must show a material change of circumstances that were unforeseen at the time of the original order. The father worked full-time and held several side jobs. Following a mandatory COVID-10 quarantine, he didn’t report back to work at his full-time stating he still had symptoms, yet he still worked at his side jobs. He was terminated and the letter noted he continued to work at outside employment while receiving paid sick leave. He requested a modification of his child support.