LawHelp HTML Document

HOPE. DIGNITY. JUSTICE.

Changes in Child Support

If a party asks the court to change the child support order, the court will look at each parent?s earning capacity, economic circumstances, and the cost of living. Most of the time remarriage alone is not a good enough reason for the court to change child support payments. The reason is that at the time of the original decree, the court knows remarriage could happen. Also, reductions in income must be involuntary. A parent will usually not be allowed to lower their support payments if they quit a high-paying job and took one that pays less in order to lower his or her support obligation.

For example, in one case, the trial court had no knowledge of a father?s poor health at the time of the decree ordering child support payment. The father then tried to use his poor health as a ?substantial change in circumstances? to lower his support payments. The court refused his request, noting that his poor health had in no way affected his earning capacity. In fact, his income had increased. The state of his health did not cause a major change in his ability to earn money and to pay support.
Sometimes, the party paying child support wants to reduce the payments while the children are visiting him/her. The courts do not allow this because the custodial parent has household costs even while the children are away.

Return to Table of Contents

READ THIS BEFORE USING ANY PART OF THE IOWA LEGAL AID WEBSITE (ILAW) If you cannot afford a lawyer and have a legal problem in Iowa, you may be able to get free legal help. Call Iowa Legal Aid. To find out which office serves your county, call 1-800-532-1275 or 515-243-2151 in the Des Moines calling area. If you are age 60 or over, you may be able to get free legal advice from The Legal Hotline for Older Iowans at 1-800-992-8161 or 282-8161 in Des Moines. All numbers are Voice and TTY.

This Website Does NOT Give Legal Advice. When you use ILAW, you are just making a request for information. No part of this site or any link found through this site is meant to give you legal advice. Using any part of this site does not make you a client. If you send an e-mail to anyone you reach through this site, it does not make you a client of any lawyer. See a lawyer to get complete, correct, and up-to-date legal advice.

ILAW Only Has a General Summary of the Law. It is not meant to fully explain topics. Do not assume what you read on ILAW applies to your specific case. Also, the law may vary from state to state. What you find on this website may not apply where you live or to court actions filed in other states.

The Law Often Changes. Content on this site was correct when it was written. Check the date on each page. Do not assume what you see here is still correct when you read it.

Links. This website has links to other Internet sites. We have these links so you can find help on legal matters from the justice community. Other sites are responsible for all content on their sites.

E-mail. Using ILAW or sending e-mail through this website does NOT make you a client of any person or program you reach through this site. When you use e-mail, you risk having someone else access part or all of your message.

Click here for the Iowa Legal Aid Internet Privacy Policy.

Click here for the Iowa Legal Aid Public and Client Complaint Procedures.

As You Look at this Website, Remember it is Not a Substitute for Legal Advice.

The Iowa Legal Aid Website is a project of Iowa Legal Aid, the Volunteer Lawyer Projects of the Iowa State Bar and Polk County Bar Associations, and HELP Legal Assistance

Comunity Legal Education booklets Iowa Legal Aid printed material is available to clients and the public. Click here for a publications order form.