As children grow their costs change. The high daycare costs of early years may yield to costs of lessons, sports and other extra-curricular activities. Parental capacity to pay changes especially if parents remarry into another family with children.
Every twenty four months support can be adjusted without showing of the need for a modification. If there is a significant change in needs of the children or capacity to pay then support might be subject to modification but this requires an initial hearing to determine if a modification is warranted.
The central problem is the cost of determining what amount of support is fair. For many decades the amount was difficult to predict because there were no clear standards and support was set after a full court hearing.
Every judge ruled their own way. Over time it became clear that the cost of such hearings drained thousands of dollars away from parents that could have otherwise been spent on the children. Thus our Courts began to adopt guidelines for paying support such that the amount of support, in normal cases, could be predicted so the cost of full hearings could be avoided.
In King County the Prosecuting Attorney routinely assists a parent to adjust support at no cost to the parent. This is done on a special calendar usually requiring only one hearing. It is a wonderful service for parents.
The law regarding Support Modification and Adjustment is RCW 26.09.170 and can be found at http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=26.09.170.
The need for support is based upon a federal determination of cost of living by region and then adjusted by the number and age of children and a host of other factors. This amount is then divided between the parents according to their capacity to pay.
To arrive at the presumed level of support our law provides a detailed formula and worksheets. Income is carefully defined (or imputed) and specific deductions from income are defined.
Our child support calculator can be found at https://fortress.wa.gov/dshs/csips/ssgen/. The worksheets and economic table for determining child support can be found at http://www.dshs.wa.gov/pdf/esa/dcs/wscss_pamphlet.pdf. A more reader friendly explanation can be found from a summary by the Northwest Justice Project at http://www.washingtonlawhelp.org/files/C9D2EA3F-0350-D9AF-ACAE-BF37E9BC9FFA/attachments/392E3CD0-E24B-4AAF-235C-3DE96A11FE23/3816en.pdf.
LINKS TO INFORMATION ON WASHINGTON DIVORCE
- The Divorce Timeline
- Divorce Petition / Separation Petition
- The Temporary Hearing Process
- Divorce & Domestic Violence
- Divorce Discovery Process
- Property and Debt in WA Divorce
- Child Support and Post Majority Support
- Parenting Plan Creation
- Support Adjustment and Modification
- Modification of Parenting
- Appeal of Trial
If you have any questions about your own particular situation relating to WA divorce laws or getting a divorce in Washington, please don’t hesitate to reach out for your own free consultation.
Kydd Family Law – “Family Focus”
Our firm focuses upon the life cycle of family needs such as:
* Divorce / * Mediation / * Collaboration /
* Litigation & Arbitration / * Psychological & Financial Planning
For a Free Consultation
Call: 206-624-2329
