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 Dissolution of Marriage - Modifications When can the Court modify a parenting plan? There is a strong preference for keeping continuity and stability for children. The Court must find that a substantial change has occurred in the circumstances of the child or in the party that is not seeking the modification. The Court must also find that the modification is necessary to serve the best interests of the child. The Court is only allowed to consider facts that have arisen since the entry of the previous parenting plan, or facts that were unknown at the time the previous parenting plan was entered. A parenting plan will not be modified unless one of the following factors are present: How to parenting plan modifications proceed? The party requesting the change files a petition to modify the parenting plan. The other party has an opportunity to answer. An adequate cause hearing must be held to determine whether or not there are grounds on which to proceed. Adequate cause is necessary to prevent children from being moved around unnecessarily. Typically, the adequate cause hearing is done on written affidavits only. If the Court determines that there is adequate cause, the moving party may seek temporary orders and proceed to set a hearing for the actual modification of the parenting plan. If no adequate cause is found, the petition for modification will be dismissed. No. Sometimes, parents need to adjust the schedule in a relatively minor way, or need to change the dispute resolution paragraph. This is deemed to be a "minor modification" when the request is not to change the residence the child is scheduled to reside in the majority of the time and if it: 1) does not exceed twenty-four full days in a calendar year or five full days in a calendar month; or 2) is based on a change of residence or an involuntary change in work schedule by a parent which makes the current plan impractical. In minor modifications, the moving party must demonstrate that there is a substantial change in the circumstances of the child or of either party, rather than the other party - as is required in a "major modification"discussed above. The factors outlined above regarding when a parenting plan will be modified to not apply to minor modifications. Child Support can be modified at any time upon a showing of a substantial change in circumstances. This often equates to an increase or decrease in income of one of the parties. Many modifications are done because the old order works a severe economic hardship on a party or the child, the child has changed age categories, or there is a need to extend support beyond the child reaching the age of 18. Many other orders are modified every 2 years because of income changes. The person requesting the change files a Petition for Support Modification and other required documentation. This documentation is served on the other party. Proof of service must be filed with the clerk of the Court. The responding party will have 20 days to respond if served in the State. If served out of State, they will have 60 days to respond. If they do not respond, you can obtain a default judgment and default order. If they do respond, a hearing will be set to determine whether or not the child support amount should be changed. Documentation evidencing incomes, such as tax returns, pay stubs, W-2's shall be exchanged and provided to the Court. The Court will review this documentation and set support accordingly.
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