Parents in New Jersey are required to care for their children and provide for them financially as well. This is true whether the parents are married or divorced. However, how parents provide for their children financially may change if the parents go through a divorce. If this occurs, it can be more difficult to ensure that both parents are contributing their fair share for the children’s financial needs. That is why there are child support orders included in divorces.
These orders are based on the circumstances at the time of the divorce though. Sometimes the divorce occurs when children are young though and the orders could be in place for many years. As people know though life changes over time and a child support order that was issued years earlier may no longer be not be appropriate anymore. If this occurs people may be able to seek a modification of their child support order.
While there are many changes that occur while parents are raising their children, in order to modify a child support order, parents must demonstrate that the change is substantial, is likely to last for a long time and was not a change that was planned by the parent. This could be because they lost a job and are unable to find a similar one quickly. Changes in parenting time orders could also qualify as a change in the circumstances. Also, permanent disabilities suffered by children or the parents could also be a significant change in the circumstances.
If a parent in New Jersey experiences a change like the ones mentioned above or other changes that are significant, it can make continuing to pay their current child support obligation difficult. In these situations the parents may be able to modify the child support order. These are very fact-specific situations though and consulting with experienced attorneys could be helpful.