Do You Have to Keep Paying Child Support if Your Child Moves Out of the Other Parent’s House?

In Florida, the duration and amount of child support payments depend on various factors, including parental income and who the children live with.

These and other factors can change over time, which may entitle the payor (the parent paying child support) to modify the existing order.

For example, let’s say a father pays the mother of his child $500 a month for child support. However, the father has recently lost his job and can no longer afford to pay this amount of money every month.

If that father contacts a knowledgeable Orlando child support attorney, he will most likely be able to reduce or terminate his support obligation by filing a request to modify child support.

But what happens when your child moves out of the other parent’s house into their friend’s house or to live on his or her own? Do you have to keep making child support payments as if nothing happened?

Can You Modify Child Support if the Child Moves Out of the Custodial Parent’s House?

In theory, yes, you may be able to seek a child custody parenting plan modification of the child support award if your child is no longer residing with the other parent to whom you were ordered to pay child support.

However, to successfully lower or terminate the child support award, you will have to establish that your child is emancipated. Your child is emancipated when he or she turns 18 or if the child leaves the parents’ household by agreement or demand before reaching the age of majority.

Emancipation is one of the grounds for modifying child support in Florida. Other situations that might warrant modification of support obligation include:

• A significant change in the payor’s income or financial ability (pay cut, involuntary loss of a job, loss of income, etc.);
• A substantial decrease in the child’s care expenses;
• The child becomes emancipated; and
• The custodial parent, to whom child support is owed, has seen an increase in income.

Consider consulting with an Orlando divorce lawyer about when you can get a modification of the child support order. You might also be interested in what to do when your ex refuses to pay child support.

How to Request Child Support Modification in Florida

Regardless of whether you are the payor who is struggling to meet his support obligation or a custodial parent whose childcare expenses have increased, you may have an equal right to request modification of your existing child support arrangement.

But how do you do that, exactly? To successfully increase or lower the child support award, you will be required to file the proper paperwork, follow legal procedures, and comply with state laws.

Seek help from an Orlando divorce attorney who will complete the required forms on your behalf, handle any legal issues that may arise, and gather evidence proving that there has been a substantial change in circumstances.

To seek a modification of child support, your first step is to file the Supplemental Petition for Modification of Child Support, Form 12.905(b). The form must be filed with the jurisdiction where the original child support order was made.

When filing and signing the form, you must also fill out a financial affidavit, which needs to be submitted within 15 days. Typically, the Family Law Financial Affidavit – or Form 12.902 (c) – is used to address child support issues in Florida.

Speak to our Orlando child support lawyers at the office of Sean Smallwood, P.A., to find out more about the procedure of modifying the child support order. Call us at 407-574-6155 or email us here.

Sean Smallwood

Sean Smallwood is an Orlando divorce attorney for the law firm Sean Smallwood, Orlando Divorce & Family Law P.A. where he represents clients in all areas of family law and divorce. 100% of the practice is devoted to family law. As an attorney in Orlando, he has helped many families with a wide variety of family law cases including Divorce, Child Custody, Child Support, and many other issues.