Modification of Child Support

[Groovy1]

I am a Father with primary residential responsibility for our son. My ex lives on the other side of the State. We divorced in 2008. I was ordered to pay her alimony and she was ordered to pay me back child support, the two were off-set.

In October 2009, I filed modifications to reduce my alimony modification and increase my child support from my ex. At the date of filing, the old child support guidelines were operating and under the old rules at date of filing, I would have had a significant increase in child support. However, under the new child support guidelines my child support could actually go down, even with the changed circumstances.

1. The child support is still pending - will the court apply the rules in effect at the date of filing (October 2009) or the new rules operating now? If child support is under new guidelines and will go down, should i withdraw my child support petition?

2. Can extra activities (sports, piano lessons etc) be included as part of child support?

3. I pay for my son to fly to his Mom twice a month, and my ex gives me a credit for half the flight costs against alimony. Can this be considered part of child support?

4. I deduct on my tax returns gross alimony. I have been calculating this as the amount I pay plus the child support which is offset (in other words I never receive the child support, effectively giving it back to my ex as alimony),. Is this the correct approach for tax purposes?

[Attorney Howard Iken]

1. The child support is still pending - will the court apply the rules in effect at the date of filing (October 2009) or the new rules operating now? If child support is under new guidelines and will go down, should i withdraw my child support petition?


The court will apply the current statutes. So if that does not work in your favor - you may want to dismiss your petition, if possible.


2. Can extra activities (sports, piano lessons etc) be included as part of child support?

Not unless you had that provision in the original judgment. You probably cannot add that in during a modification action.

3. I pay for my son to fly to his Mom twice a month, and my ex gives me a credit for half the flight costs against alimony. Can this be considered part of child support?


Same answer as above. Usually the answer is no.


4. I deduct on my tax returns gross alimony. I have been calculating this as the amount I pay plus the child support which is offset (in other words I never receive the child support, effectively giving it back to my ex as alimony),. Is this the correct approach for tax purposes?

If your final judgement spells out the offset, then the answer is yes.