In general, the non-custodial parent should be ordered to pay child support unless that parent’s only income is SSI or that parent is incarcerated.
Maybe. If a court ordered you to pay child support, or if you are getting child support for your child, you can ask the court to change the amount of child support in the order. The court can change the current support order if there has been a substantial and continuing change of circumstances, or if the current support order differs from the Child Support Guideline amount by 20%.
The court uses a child support worksheet and the Child Support Guidelines to figure out how much child support to order. The amount of child support is based on the parents’ incomes and the costs of taking care of your child. A parent whose only income is SSI cannot be forced to pay support. The following website can help you estimate the amount of child support that should be ordered in your case https://www.in.gov/courts/services/child-support-calculator/
The Child Support Division of your local county prosecutor’s office may be able to help you change your child support order. This service is free. You can also hire a private attorney or file a petition to change child support on your own.
https://www.in.gov/dcs/child-support/contact-us/local-child-support-offices/
https://indianalegalhelp.org/legal-topics/133/legal-issues/138
- When things change so much that the current amount of child support is unreasonable. This might happen if:
- A parent loses a job.
- A parent gets a new job and makes a lot more money than he or she did before.
- There is a change in custody of the child.
- The child becomes disabled or needs a lot of medical care.
- When the amount of child support that the court ordered before is 20% more or less than it would be if the court ordered it today, and it has been more than one year since the court’s last child support order.
No. You should go to the court that ordered child support in the first place to change the child support order.
You can register the other state’s child support order with the Indiana court in your county. After you register the out-of-state order, you can ask the Indiana court to change the order. Again, your local county prosecutor’s office should help you with registering, changing, or enforcing an out-of-state order.
However, the Indiana court can change the order only in certain situations, such as if you, the child, and the other parent all live or used to live in Indiana. Your local county prosecutor may need to work with the prosecutor’s office in the other state to change your child support order.
If you and the other parent agree to change the child support order, you may not have to go to court for a hearing. Even if you and the other parent agree on the change, you still have to ask for the court’s approval. To do this, you need to file a paper asking the court to approve the agreed change in child support.
If you and the other parent can’t agree on the change, then you will have to go to a court hearing.
Non-criminal, civil legal issues including public benefits such as food stamps, SSI/SSDI terminations, unemployment, land sale contracts, etc.
The application should take about 20 minutes to complete. You will need to answer questions about your income, assets, and household size. Submitting an application does NOT mean that we will accept your case. You should hear from us within about 14 days with a decision on whether we will be able to take your case.
Indiana Legal Services, Inc. (ILS) is a nonprofit law firm and the largest provider of free civil legal assistance to eligible low-income people in Indiana. ILS helps clients who are faced with legal problems that harm their ability to obtain basic needs such as food, shelter, income, medical care or personal safety. ILS also handles cases in other areas including family law where there is domestic violence, housing, consumer law, access to health care, and access to government benefits. ILS does not handle any criminal matters.