Divorce Modification Changes
One thing is certain in life and that is change is a constant. And so it is in divorce as well.
Changes in divorce agreements are called modifications. A couple or either party in a divorce may find it necessary to revise their agreement due to changes in circumstances. Some examples of these:
- you’ve had a change in your financial or life situation
- parents of children involved in divorce are moving
- a change in alimony agreements
- a change in how property will be provided or debt dispersed
Divorce modifications arise when the order that was created when the divorce was finalized needs to be changed or modified. Throughout a divorce, the court will split and divide money and property, assets, and many times,custody of the children. All of these things are decided before the divorce is finalized, and then written in a final order, but, since circumstances can often change, people may file for a divorce modification to comply with these changes. Here’s an important point: Divorce settlements don’t always have to be permanent.
Before these changes can be put into action, the ex-spouses have to prove why the changes should be made. This can be providing a stable living condition to obtain custody, or a salary raise for the ex spouse, in which the other spouse deserves more in child support. An appeal is filed to the court, and evidence to support the changes must be provided. The judge or court will then consider the changes, based on the information provided. Having factual, useful, meaningful information is your best chance at success.
If you are unhappy with your divorce settlements, and are interested in divorce modifications, contact your divorce attorney about filing. They can help assist you with pursuing more alimony, more child support, or help you obtain custody of your child through the divorce modification process. An divorce attorney will have the best advice and guidance for you to follow. We have many resources for you here on DivorceAttorneyHome.com.
The first step for divorce modification is to consult a lawyer having experience with it. Ideas will be provided by the lawyer based on the clients’ situations. Paperwork must be filed with the court for changes immediately, as quickly as possible, because until the modification is performed, any alimony or other payments should be continued. The most important thing for a divorce modification is the “strong change” reason for the modification. Many people think that unemployment will automatically remove the responsibilities of spousal or child support settlements, but, sadly, this just isn’t true. The situation of the individual will be thoroughly analyzed by the court to conclude whether the change in the income or the situation requires the modification. Payments should be made by the individual until advised by the judge of the court.
If the former spouse gets married once again and starts earning a large amount of money and still the divorcee is paying the maintenance or alimony fees to the former spouse, the court may consider reducing the payment. If you become handicapped or unemployed, the child support payment will be decreased. Even if the child support charges are decreased; the individual will not be paid back the amount that they have already paid. This method is not retroactive. The increase in the child support payment is retroactive. This increase will not affect the support payment of other children in case if you have more than one.
If the written divorce agreements mention that the payments should not be modified, then the individual has to face more troubles. However, the strong reasons such as unemployment or other important hurdles will be helpful in decreasing the payments. The other reasons for the divorcees to approach the court once again after divorce includes a modification in the custody or visitation, place shifting of one of the parents, custody enforcement and alimony or child support regulations. Property partitions are usually performed at the end. Redistribution of the property will not be performed by the court which was divided by the mutual agreements or by the court itself.
Legally divorce settlements involve support and custody of child, properties and loans, support for the spouse, pension accounts and retirement amounts. The rule for the partition of properties varies from state to state in United States. Usually property partitions are performed based on two rules including the property of the community and equal dispersion. The property which belongs to the couples equally and divided equally at the time of divorce is called as the community property. Some of the states in which the community property is being followed include Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Wisconsin, Texas and several other states of United States.