As prices continue to rise, you may have noticed that the child support payments you receive from your child’s other parent aren’t going as far to cover your child-related expenses as they once did. To keep up with cost-of-living increases, you may need to seek a child support modification with the help of a family law attorney.
Cost-of-Living Adjustment Clauses
Unfortunately, Missouri does not automatically include a universal cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) clause in all child support orders. However, if you are seeking a child support order following a divorce, you can request that one of these clauses be added.
In most cases where a child support order has a COLA clause, it’s tied to the Consumer Price Index (CPI). This allows the amount of support to increase each year without the need to return to court to seek a modification.
If you have an existing child support order that doesn’t contain a COLA clause, you can seek a modification to have one added to it. This is often more sustainable than seeking a modification for a one-time increase in payments.
When Are Child Support Modifications Granted?
Typically, a child support modification requires evidence of a significant increase in costs. Missouri Statute 452.370 refers to such an increase as “changed circumstances so substantial and continuing as to make the terms [of the child support order] unreasonable.”
Usually, an increase in costs of 20 percent or more is enough to meet this threshold. And the courts will look at the financial resources of both parties, as well as the child’s needs, when determining whether such an increase has occurred.
Seeking a Child Support Modification
To seek a child support modification based on cost-of-living increases, the most straightforward option is to fill out a Form 14, which is Missouri’s child support amount calculation worksheet. This form can then be compared to the original Form 14 that was filled out when the child support order was put into effect to determine the overall increase in costs.
If the increase comes out to be less than 20 percent, you can still receive the modification you’re seeking. However, if it is more than 20 percent, the courts will often accept that as sufficient evidence to warrant a cost-of-living adjustment in your favor.
How a Family Law Attorney Can Help
A family law attorney can help you seek child support payments that keep up with inflation and other rising costs in several key ways.
One of the most effective is for your lawyer to have a COLA clause included in your child support order from the start. They can petition the court to include this clause, citing rising costs and the anticipated duration of the order. For example, if your child is very young, the cost of living will increase more over the lifespan of the support order than if they are already almost 18 years old.
Your lawyer can also help you obtain a modification by gathering evidence of your rising cost of living, including your Form 14, your grocery bills, and the cost of your child’s educational needs.
Contact Our Family Law Attorney Serving St. Louis and St. Charles Counties
If you need additional child support payments from your child’s other parent due to recent cost-of-living increases, contact the Law Office of Amy L. Gervich for a free initial consultation with an experienced family law attorney. You need a supportive and caring lawyer who will treat you like family, which is what you’ll get with Attorney Amy Gervich.
Our law firm has over 15 years of experience helping parents in St. Louis and St. Charles Counties by offering tailored solutions to the difficult problems they face, including seeking cost-of-living adjustments for child support.
