Decatur Child Support Attorney

Parents with legal custody of children under age nineteen years of age in Decatur, Alabama can enlist our Morgan County child support lawyers to request a modification in child support if there is a change in circumstances. Rule 32 of the Alabama Rules of Judicial Administration governs the Child support modifications in Decatur and a court will consider a child support modification in Morgan County if a parent’s income changes by more than 10%. Another instance in which the child support mounts may be modified are when there was an outstanding amount paid for the child’s care like an extended stay at a hospital.  Contact our Decatur and Morgan County child support lawyer today for a consultation.

In Morgan County, our Decatur child support lawyer will likely file your petition in the Family Court Division of the Morgan County Circuit Court. The Circuit Court has divisions in that handle child support in Decatur, depending on what area of the county you live in. Your Morgan County child support lawyer should generally file the Petition to Modify Child Support in the circuit court in the county where the custodial parent lives or in the county that issued the original child support order.

When you file the petition, the Court will consider your grounds for the request. What has changed in your circumstances to make the court consider a change? Be sure to have evidence of income changes, like pay stubs, available for your Morgan County child support attorney to show as evidence. If you had to cover a child’s expenses for something extraordinary (such as an extended hospital stay) be sure to get copies of those bills and proof that you paid them (such as a cancelled check or bank statement). Whether you need a child support lawyer in Marion County or Morgan County we can help.

After you have gathered the evidence, our child support attorneys in Morgan County will obtain a Petition to Modify Child Support (Form PS-02) and a financial affidavit (Form CS-41) to file along with documents we prepare for you. The court clerks cannot fill out the forms for you, but they can make sure you get the right form to fill out. Once your Morgan County child support attorney files the petition, a copy will be sent by the court to the child’s other parent for service of process. This can be done by certified mail or they may have a deputy sheriff deliver it in person.

A hearing will be set in court to consider the petition. Your local Morgan, Marion, Limestone, or Madison County child support lawyer will argue your case for you to the Court and your ex-spouse will argue their case. Make sure to bring any documents that could serve as evidence to the hearing, such as pay stubs, W-2s, income tax returns, bank statements, and any extraordinary bills you may have incurred in caring for your child. In deciding whether to award a modification of child support, the court must consider whether you proved a “material change in circumstances that is substantial and continuing.”

But when do modifications go into effect? If the court orders a modification, all child support payments after the date of filing the petition are subject to the revised amount. So if you lose your job, for example, it is generally advisable your Morgan County child support lawyer file your petition as soon as possible. That’s because sometimes it can take months to reach a hearing date and a ruling, but all payments after the date of filing are retroactively adjusted once the ruling is made. If you need a child support attorney in Cullman, Hartselle, Decatur, Florence, Athens, or anywhere else in North Alabama then give us a call.

Attorney’s fees for these petitions can vary from one Morgan County family law firm to another. Generally, you pay your Morgan County child support lawyer a retainer. A retainer fee is money paid in advance for services that will be rendered. It is usually paid monthly based on the attorney’s estimate of the work they will be doing for you during that time. If the child’s other parent opposes the modification, the retainer can cost more money since the case will be argued longer. When both parents agree on the modification, the retainer is fairly inexpensive, because it is an uncontested request. The more adversarial the process is, the more expensive it generally becomes. Call our Decatur child support attorney today to file your child support petition in Morgan County, Alabama.