Modifications to Family Court Orders

Garden City Divorce Attorney

It sometimes occurs that following a divorce, either party wishes to request a modification to child custody and visitation, child support or spousal support. As each case is judged on its own specific merits, it is important to enlist the help of a Garden City divorce lawyer who can present a compelling argument on your behalf.

The general requirements to have the court consider any of these are difference for each and involve:

• Custody and visitation – The parent seeking the amendments must show a significant change in circumstances.
• Child support – In order to achieve increased support, the custodial parent must show that the child's needs cannot be adequately met by the current level of payments. This relies on an unreasonable or unexpected change of circumstances. For the payer to have the amount of support reduced, different standards must be met depending on whether the current arrangement came about by agreement or court order.
• Spousal support – If the current amount was court ordered, a substantial change of circumstances is necessary for a modification. If current payments are per a surviving agreement, changes can only be made in cases of extreme hardship. Modifications will usually be approved in either case if the recipient would otherwise become a public charge.

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Substantial change in circumstances can consists of such occurrences as losing a job, unexpected medical costs, a spouse remarrying, incidents of child neglect and other such factors relevant to the area where modification is sought.

In matters involving children, the court will always consider the best interests of the child as the guiding factor. For representation by legal counsel that genuinely cares about helping you and your family, contact a Garden City divorce attorney at Jonathan E. Edwards P.C.