What's in a modification answer
Each state page explains what that state requires before a court will change a child support order, how to ask for the change, and the date from which a new amount can take effect, then lets you compare your current order with the amount the guideline gives today. Every legal figure is tied to a cited source; see our methodology for how we verify each one.
Federal rules every state follows
Two federal rules in 42 U.S.C. 666(a) shape every state's procedure:
- No retroactive changes. Each child support installment is a judgment by operation of law from the date it is due and cannot be modified retroactively, except that a state may allow a change for a period when a petition for modification is pending, but only from the date notice of the petition was given to the other parent.
- Periodic review. In cases handled by the state child support agency, either parent can ask the agency to review and adjust the order every three years.
A federal guideline rule (45 CFR 302.56) also says a state may not treat incarceration as voluntary unemployment when it sets or changes an order.
Thresholds differ by state
Some states put a number on how big the change must be, and others ask only for a substantial change in circumstances. Examples we have read in the law itself:
- Florida — the difference between the existing monthly obligation and the guideline amount must be at least 15 percent or $50, whichever is greater, before a court may find a substantial change; for orders the state agency reviews, the threshold is 10 percent and $25 (Fla. Stat. 61.30).
- Kentucky — applying the guidelines at the time of the motion and getting a change of 15 percent or more in the monthly amount is rebuttably presumed to be a material change in circumstances, and a smaller change is rebuttably presumed not to be (KRS 403.213).
Where a state names no number, its page shows the standard the statute sets and the events that usually qualify, rather than inventing a percentage.