What Counts as a Substantial Change in Circumstances for Child Support in Georgia

By the FigureMyTax Editorial Team · How we calculate

To modify Georgia child support you need a substantial change in either parent’s income and financial status or in the child’s needs. There is no percentage line, the same parent cannot refile within 2 years with exceptions, and an involuntary loss of 25% of income has its own rule.

What is a substantial change in circumstances for child support in Georgia?

Georgia does not let a parent petition for modification, however long it has been since the award, unless there is a substantial change in either parent’s income and financial status or in the needs of the child (O.C.G.A. 19-6-15(k)(1)). The statute gives no percentage. At the hearing the court hears evidence on the change of circumstances, the income and financial status of each parent and the needs of the child, and may modify only if the change is satisfactorily proven and the modification is in the child’s best interest (19-6-15(k)(4)).

Is there a percentage rule in Georgia?

No, not for modification. A 15% and 30% difference appears in the statute only for phasing in a new award against orders entered before January 1, 2007. The Georgia child support modification calculator therefore shows the gap in dollars and percent but does not say a change is “presumed” substantial; the judge or jury decides.

What is the 2-year bar?

No petition to modify may be filed by either parent within 2 years of the date of the final order on a previous petition to modify by the same parent, except when the noncustodial parent has failed to exercise court-ordered visitation, has exercised a greater amount of visitation than the order provides, or the motion is based on an involuntary loss of income (19-6-15(k)(2)). The bar runs from the last final order on that parent’s own petition, not from the original award.

What is the 25% involuntary loss rule?

If a parent suffers an involuntary termination of employment, an extended involuntary loss of average weekly hours, an organized strike, a loss of health, incarceration or similar involuntary adversity that results in a loss of income of 25 percent or more, the portion of child support attributable to the lost income does not accrue from the date the petition for modification is served on the other parent. Leaving an employer without good cause is not an involuntary termination, and the court must make every effort to expedite the hearing (19-6-15(j)).

Do changes to the guideline table count?

Subsequent changes to the child support obligation table are a reason to request a review from child support services, to the extent consistent with the agency review statute (19-6-15(k)(3)(C); 19-11-12). They do not by themselves prove a substantial change in court.

From what date can the order change?

Each installment of support is a judgment by operation of law on and after its due date and is not subject to retroactive modification (19-6-17(e)). Every month before service is lost, apart from the lost-income rule above:

Federal law also bars retroactive modification of support already due (42 U.S.C. 666(a)(9)).

What happens next?

Read how to modify child support in Georgia for the procedure, and check what stays owed with the Georgia arrears calculator.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

• O.C.G.A. 19-6-15: child support guidelines, modification and involuntary loss of income
• O.C.G.A. 19-6-17: child support judgments by operation of law
• O.C.G.A. 19-11-12: agency review of child support orders
• O.C.G.A. 19-11-18: collection of arrearages
• 42 U.S.C. 666(a)(9): no retroactive modification of support already due

This is general information, not legal advice. It is based on the cited Georgia statutes, rules and court opinions, and every case turns on its own facts. Confirm how the law applies to your situation with a licensed Georgia attorney.