MODIFICATIONS AND ENFORCEMENTS

Life situations can change. Parents are offered new job opportunities and want to move or experience a job loss and are out of work. Their children face health issues that were unanticipated. After divorce, one or both parents may remarry. These are just a few of the changes you can encounter. While the issues you resolved during divorce seemed final at the time, later on you may need to modify child custody arrangements or support payments. At C.E. Borman & Associates, our attorneys can assist with modification of a court order. We can also help enforce existing orders when you’re not receiving child support or if custody arrangements aren’t being followed.

Courts won’t modify child custody based on small changes in your life. However, when changes are substantial, courts seriously consider your request for modification. In the eyes of a judge, the following are substantial changes:

• A parent moves a great distance away or out-of-state
• One or both parents remarry
• Your child experiences extreme health issues
• A parent fails to provide the child with proper daily care or supervision
• One parent alienates the child from the other parent
• Extreme moral misconduct makes a parent unfit
• A parent is convicted of a crime
• A parent seriously abuses or neglects the child
• A parent becomes involved in drug or alcohol abuse
• Domestic violence becomes an issue

Job loss can reduce your net income dramatically and is a common reason to request modification of child support. Also, when primary custody changes, let’s say your child comes to live with you or goes to live with the other parent, child support obligations change. You should discuss any significant difference in circumstances with your lawyer and find out if modifications are in order.

Your attorney can help you take legal action to enforce child support payments. Such actions include:

• Requesting court hearings (hearings often lead to payment or jail)
• Filing liens against the parent’s property and assets
• Driver’s license suspension
• Professional license or certificate suspensions
• Fish and game license suspensions
• Wage garnishment