By Sally Lanham

Welcome to the world of the recently unemployed. While the market may react quickly (ask the King County Judge who was laid off), the courts don’t react with such alacrity.

If you are ordered to pay child support and provide insurance, the current order stays in place. The court order is valid and enforceable and the money owed is simply increasing each and every month. The only way to obtain relief is to seek either Modification or Adjustment of the court order. While the words sound similar, in legal world, they are very different animals.

Modifications:  When a Child Support Order is Modified, the entire order can be changed. All aspects of the order can be altered: tax exemptions, day care provisions, health care cost responsibilities. Because many of the provisions are re-evaluated, it takes a Petition and a Trial by Affidavit to accomplish the task. The court will not allow modification under all circumstances.

Often the party seeking the modification must show that here has been “a substantial change of circumstances.” However, such a change is not necessary if the order is 12 months old and:

1. The order is causing a severe economic hardship on either party
2. The child has entered a new age bracket
3. Support ended at 18 and the child will still be in high school
4. The order does not allow for an adjustment
5. No health care provision is in the order
6. There is a change in the health care available

The law is very clear that voluntary unemployment and underemployment never qualifies as a substantial change.

An order can be modified without a substantial change in circumstances after 24 months.

The main draw back with this process is the time restraints. In King County, the wait between filing and trial can be four to five months.

Adjustments: Most of the child support orders over the last six or seven years have provisions that allow for Adjustments. They operate under the same circumstances but only the amount of the support is changed.

This may sound insignificant but the change can affect a number of factors:

1. The net amount of support
2. The percentage of day care and other expenses paid for the child
3. Take into consideration the increased cost of COBRA or new health insurance plans.

Adjustments are much simpler. The most important factor is the speed at which this can happen. An adjustment can take place on the motions calendar and scheduled within 10 to 14 days in most counties.

No matter how bad things are, ignoring the situation will only increase the cost of past due child support if no action is commenced. Child Support changes are never retroactive. The court has some discretion as to when the change begins. The earliest date possible is the day the new action is filed.

Sally Lanham is a Divorce & Family Law attorney with the Mikkelborg firm. She works with people in all aspects of their relationships with other family members. She helps people with adoptions, pre and postnuptial agreements. She also handles divorces, paternity suits and other related matters.