Working with the Department of Revenue
The Department of Revenue Child Support
Enforcement Division is required to review each child support order at least
every three years, upon request. If you
want the Department of Revenue Child Support Enforcement Division to review
your child support order, call your child support case worker. It
does not matter if you are the parent who pays child support or the parent who
receives it. You can contact you child
support case worker at 1-800-332-2733.
If you are calling from
If your child support order is more than
three years old, or you think that there might be any discrepancy or difference
between your child support order and the amount that is required by the Child
Support Guidelines, you can start the process of changing your order by
calling the phone numbers listed above and starting the review and adjustment
process.
You can also start the process on line by
visiting the DOR Child Support Enforcement website.
The DOR will send you the forms and
instructions. After you return the
forms, the DOR will look at the financial information you have provided and the
financial information it has concerning the other parent, and file a Complaint
for Modification, as appropriate.
Filing Your Own Complaint for Modification
You can also seek a modification of a child
support order by filing your own case in the Probate and Family Court. You do not need to go have the Department of
Revenue file it for you.
For a court to modify or change a child
support order, there must be a material and significant change of circumstances
since the last order was entered. You
do not have to wait for three years to pass before seeking a modification of
child support if you can show that a material and significant change of
circumstances has occurred.
The Child Support Guidelines say that
"A modification may be allowed upon showing a discrepancy of 20% or more
between an established order and a proposed new order calculated under these
guidelines."
To modify a child support order of the
Probate & Family Court:
- Go into the court that issued the child support order
- Fill out and file a Complaint for Modification - the Complaint and other
forms described in this article are available free at the court and on
this website. In the proper section of the Complaint
write the facts that show that there has been a material and significant
change in circumstances since the last child support order. This is an example of a Complaint for
Modification that has been filled out.
- Obtain and fill out a Summons
- Serve the Complaint and Summons
- Arrange a court date for hearing on the Complaint - speak to a
court clerk about how to arrange a court date for the hearing.
- Fill out a Financial Statement form
and provide a copy to the other parent.
- Send a blank Financial Statement form to the other parent with a
written request that he or she fill it out and give you a copy.
- Fill out a Child Support
Guidelines Worksheet.
Nearly all child support orders are issued
in Probate and Family Court.
Parents who agree about how the child
support order should be modified can together file a Joint
Petition for Modification of Child Support Judgment. A Joint Petition does not have to be served.
There is no filing fee for a Complaint for
Modification of a child support order.
There is a cost for serving the complaint
and summons which is charged to you by the deputy sheriff or constable who
serves the papers.
However, if your income is below a certain level, the court
can order the state to pay the cost of serving the papers. There is a
particular form that you file in order to get an order for state payment of
these costs. The form is an Affidavit of Indigency, a sworn statement
that you make about your income. The form is available at the court and the
Affidavit of Indigency can be approved by a clerk.