Using Family Mediation To Modify Post-divorce Child Support
Mediation provides a cost-effective way to adjust post-divorce child support obligations.
In divorces where the parties have children in common, the final judgment will include provisions for the payment of child support. A common problem is how to adjust child support obligations when you are the one paying it and you’re making less money than when child support was originally calculated.
Most states provide a procedure to calculate child support which is really a formula. This procedure takes into account changes in the income of the paying spouse.
If you’re the one paying it and need to lower your child support payments, speak to your former spouse about using the services of a family mediator to calculate a new child support obligation.
The process is no different if you are the parent who receives child support and want to adjust support because the needs of the children have gone up or because your former spouse has a higher income than when the obligation was established.
While a mediator cannot give you legal advice on questions regarding child support, he or she is usually trained to perform the child support calculation required to compute child support. Both you and your former spouse can meet with the mediator to perform the calculations. The mediator will need information such as the income of both parties, and may need certain other items related to the children’s expense.
Once the calculations are done, if both you and your former spouse agree, you can enter into an agreement and take that to court.
To find out more about the benefits of family mediation, download this free guide on divorce mediation All the benefits of using mediation listed in the guide are applicable to post-divorce matters.
Vivian Rodriguez helps parties in family disputes workout creative solutions to lessen the emotional and financial impact of expensive and long litigation. She is a Florida Supreme Court-certified family mediator offering dispute resolution services in Broward, Collier, Lee and Miami-Dade Counties, FL. Se Habla Espanol. For more information on mediation and its benefits to you and your family in your divorce or other family dispute, even before you start the legal process, visit http://fldivorcemediation.com/
Tags: child support modification, family mediation, post-divorce