Changing Child Support Orders
by: Legal Aid Services of Oregon
CONTENTS
How can I get my current child support order changed?
If I am behind in paying child support, can the amount of back child support I owe be changed?
How can I get my current child support order changed?
If your support case is handled by the District Attorney or the DOJ and your child support order is at least two years old, you can ask the enforcing agency to "review" your child support order to see if it meets the current guidelines. In most situations, the agency must do this review at your request. If this review shows that your current support order is more than 15% or $50 different from what the guidelines call for, the agency will file the modification paperwork.
If it has been less than two years since the most recent child support order or modification, you may still be able to get a "change of circumstances modification." The change may be in your income, the other parent's income, or the child's needs. This service, or the paperwork to do it on your own, is also available from DOJ and the DA. If you are the parent who owes support and begin receiving public assistance, you can also get your child support order changed.
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If I am behind in paying child support, can the amount of back child support I owe be changed?
Once you are behind in paying child support that you have been ordered to pay, you cannot go back and cancel any amount of support you owe -- even if you didn't pay because you didn't have a job or were disabled. Child support can be modified only back to the time legal papers are served on the other parent requesting the modification. But you may be able to get credit on your child support account if the children lived with you for a long time when it wasn't your usual parenting time, and if the other parent had agreed to your having the children. You should contact a private attorney or, in some counties, the District Attorney, about getting this credit.
You may also qualify for a credit in some cases in which retroactive (back) Social Security benefits were awarded to your child.
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