Hello,
I have a son who will be 9 next week, whom I get child support for in the sum of $40 a week. This court order was established when he was one year old. I have no contact with my son's father, as the situation is a bit complicated. He did try and sue for visitation, which he lost through default. My child support payments go to an account that I have access to through a debit card. These payments are scattered and never arrive in a timely matter. Sometimes I don't get a $40 payment for weeks. My question is, without knowing if he has had an increase in earnings, or if he is even working, would I still be able to file a Complaint For Modification form with the courts on the grounds of cost of living increases? I have never filed anything after the first court order, and I know he has two other children that his ex girlfriend claimed was his when they found out I was taking him to court. Which she abruptly took him to court for at the same time. So in retrospect, I am only getting a third of his child support allotment. My son is on SSI for developmental problems and I was also wondering if this would come into play. Any help or advice is most welcomed. Thank you in advance.
Carrie

What state do you live in ?

You can file for a increase in child support, approx every 3 years in must states.

I'm sorry... I neglected to include that I live in Massachusetts.:o

Here is a link to your state for child support, review this site it you help ou file for the child support increase.

Link:
http://www.cse.state.ma.us/

Click on Parents

I have child support payments established through the courts and D.O.R (Department of Revenue) I guess I just wanted to know if I COULD file for cost of living, even if he is collecting unemployment, which I believe he may. In the past, when he lost a job, the support payments were still sent, but in conjunction with his unemployment pay. In other words, unemployment arranged to take some monies out for his child support obligations first, before he got any. Like I stated before, I do not have any contact with him so I don't know anything that is going on in his life. All I know is the $40 a week isn't much and I wanted to know if I should bother filing the Complaint For Modification form I have, or will they just tell me they can't get me an increase because he is not working.

I do not know of any court will never tell you that the father cannot pay child support... all income are considered in determining child support... that is yours and his and ssi.. do not worry about him... your child needs more support and who else should you go to if not the daddy... go to the website stated for information and everything else is up to you... I suggest you go for more support...

Generally, in order to ask for an increase in support payments you have to show that there's been an appreciable change in circumstances which would reasonably mandate the father paying more for support. Examples would be if he got a new job which pays substantially more than his previous job or if he came into a large sum of money serendipitously, such as by winning the lottery or receiving an inheritance.

Hi Carrie,

I live here in FL and work at a child support office. I will tell you that your case is supposed to be reviewed automatically every three years for an upward modification. It does not always happen but you can call and ask for it to be done. We can check for employment info or you can provide it to us. Your case can be reviewed and it will be determined if it qualifies for an upward mod. In most cases, if there is no employment info, an upward mod cannot be granted at that time. If the father is currently collecting unemployment, an upward modification cannot be filed for at that time.