CS questions

North Carolina Divorce Law Divorce and Separation Answers
1

I have a couple questions:

  1. My child will be turning 12; I was told I would no long be responsible for day care expenses. do I file for a reduction now so the court date can heard close to the childs birthdate or wait to file after the child turns 12? Is child support retrocredited to the birthdate?

  2. I am expecting another child; do I file for the reduction now so the case can be heard just after the child is born or wait til the child is born to file the reduction based on another dependant? Again, is child support retrocredited to the date of birth of my new dependant?

  3. Should I have 2 seperate court dates; one court date for each issue or should I have both issues heard during the same court date? My concern is whether or not I will be retrocredited to Jan if I wait for the birth of my new dependant.

Thank you for your help!

2

If your Order or separation agreement says that child support can be recalculated and modified as the result of a child reaching age 12, then you can request the modification. There is nothing in the statute that requires this to be done otherwise. If this does apply to you, then you will need to wait until the child actually turns 12 before filing for the modification. Then you have standing to get the modification done. Once modified, the new amount would be backdated to the date you filed, so the sooner after the child’s birthday the better.

You cannot get a reduction on an existing support order based on a new child. Afterborn children will have no affect on the support owed to firstborn children. However, if you ever have to pay child support on the new child, the fact that you are under a prior child support order for other children will be factored into the calculation for the new child.