The settlement you make with your spouse, which gets signed by the judge and put into force, may not work for you in the long term. As life throws you changes and as the needs of your family – especially your children – change, you may need to revisit your agreement and make some modifications. How easily you can do that will depend on your relationship with your former spouse and whether the two of you can agree on the changes. However, if only one of you wants to make a change and the other does not, you may find yourself back in the courtroom again and paying an attorney to help you get those changes signed by a judge.

Courts do not look upon modifications favorably, without serious proof that your circumstances have changed greatly.  Unless you can show a 20 percent change in any support order, a problem with a custodial parent, serious conflict between the parent with custody and the children to the point that proper care is being neglected and the Department of Social Services has become involved or contemplated relocation of one parent or some health-related problem, it’s not likely the court would consider you to have met the high burden required to bring before the court a Complaint for Modification.  Learn More.