3 Myths About Modifying or Terminating Child Support

Our family law clients know all too well that even after a divorce trial ends, child support obligations and negotiations can continue.

Clients often come to us seeking to modify or terminate their child support obligation. Sometimes clients come to us standing accused of missing support payments because they assume their child support obligation has been automatically modified or terminated as of a certain date or event.

Here are three common myths about modifying and terminating child support:

1) As your children “age out” of child support, your child support obligation will go down.

This is not necessarily true!

Perhaps when your initial child support amount was calculated, you had 1 or more minor children for whom child support was owed.

But inflation and cost of living have increased. Chances are good that the Maryland Child Support Guidelines have been modified since your initial child support amount was calculated, to account for inflation and cost of living increases.

Once a child graduates from high school or turns eighteen (18), whichever last occurs, support may no longer be owed for that child. And often clients assume that, as their minor children become emancipated, their support obligation will necessarily decrease.

However, it is possible, and in fact not uncommon, for child support obligations to increase even after one of the minor children is emancipated, due to changes in Child Support Guidelines.

Before you initiate a discussion with the other parent about a modification of support once a child becomes emancipated, consult an attorney to determine what your new obligation could be. You may not want to initiate that discussion after all.

2)  If you no longer have any minor children, your child support obligation will automatically terminate.

This one is a little trickier.

Most child support orders do not indicate a date by which the Order shall terminate. Rather, the child support award is indefinite, subject to modification upon a showing of a “material change in circumstances” by either parent.

Though the support order may have some language about the support terminating for each child upon that child’s graduation from high school or reaching age eighteen (18), whichever last occurs, it is incumbent upon the parents to file the necessary paperwork to modify or terminate any child support order.

If the order compels the payor parent to pay a certain amount each month, that order will remain in the Court’s file and possibly in the records of the Office of Child Support Enforcement until a new order supersedes or terminates it.

Most importantly, know that if your child support obligation is paid via earnings withholding (deduction from your paycheck), the funds will continue to be withdrawn from your pay each pay period unless there is a new Court Order terminating the earnings withholding, regardless of whether your children are emancipated.

If you are paying support through the State office, and you stop paying because your last child has emancipated and you assume you no longer owe support, you could be at risk for license suspension, tax intercept, wage garnishment, and other problems unless you have first filed to terminate that support order.

In short, you should consult with an attorney long before your last child emancipates if you wish to ensure your support obligation is lawfully and timely terminated.

3) If parents agree to recalculate child support as of a certain date, and have agreed to a new amount, it will go into effect on the date the parties have agreed it should.

This is often untrue.

Many parents attempt to negotiate agreements to address the future modification of child support, in hopes of avoiding future litigation or paying more in legal fees.

While the cause is a noble one, simply put, the State does not permit parents to make their own agreements regarding child support.

We advise clients to imagine there are three parties to the child support portion of their case. Rather than just the two of them, it’s the two parents and the State. If the State does not find the parties’ agreement regarding child support to be in the children’s best interests, the State will reject the agreement.

To be clear, parties can cooperate to modify child support without litigation. But we must be creative in how we craft these agreements to modify support in the future. We recommend early mediation. And whichever parent believes he or she will benefit most by the future modification may need to file a petition to modify support while attempting to negotiate a resolution. The order modifying child support, once approved by the State and entered by the court, can only be retroactive to the date a petition to modify was filed.

In short – make no assumptions about the modification or termination of your child support. The family law attorneys at Bulman Dunie are here to assist you!