RECENTLY ACTIVATED NATIONAL GUARD OR MILITARY RESERVIST
If you owe child support or are receiving child support payments and are being deployed, and you will experience a change in income based on your activation, you can request a review for possible modification of the child support order before you deploy.
Please review the information below as it pertains to your specific case:
If your support order is being handled by a child support agency:
Simply follow the below steps:
- Download and complete a Notice of Deployment – Request for Review of Child Support Order.
- Obtain a copy of your Deployment Orders.
- Obtain a copy of your Leave and Earnings Statement.
- Download and complete an Income and Expense Declaration.
- Obtain copies of your paycheck stubs for the last two months.
- Obtain copies of your most recent W-2 forms.
Then, submit all above mentioned documents to the local agency which is enforcing your support order.
Within five (5) business days of receiving your request, the agency will review your case and, if appropriate for modification, file a motion with the court to modify the support order.
Please note that the review may result in an upward modification, a downward modification, or no change to the child support order.
Reduction of Interest Rate on Past-Due Child Support Debts
If your child support order is being enforced by a local agency, you may use a Notice of Deployment – Request for Review of Child Support Order to request that the interest rate charged on any child support arrears that accrued prior to your deployment be reduced to six percent (6%) for the duration of your deployment in accordance with the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.
To be eligible for a reduction in interest rate, you must prove that your activation to military service has had a “material effect” on your ability to pay the usual, state-mandated interest rate of ten percent (10%).
Then, submit the request to the agency which is enforcing your support order.
If your support order is private (no Child Support Services case has been opened)
Simply follow the below steps:
- Download and complete a Notice of Deployment – Request for Review of Child Support Order.
- Download and complete a Request to Modify a Support Order.
- File the packet directly with the court.
- Serve the other party to the order.
Instructions for completing both forms, filing it with the court, and serving the other party, are all included with the above-mentioned forms.
If possible, the court will schedule a hearing on the matter prior to your date of deployment. If the court is unable to hear the matter prior to your deployment date, you have 90 days from the date you return from deployment to request that a hearing be scheduled or you will lose the right to change the support order retroactively.
If your modification is approved, it will be effective on the date the form was served to the other party, or your date of deployment, whichever is later.
Reduction of Interest Rate on Past-Due Child Support Debts
Please note, if your support order is being enforced by an entity other than a child support agency, you must contact that entity in writing to request a reduction in the interest rate.
Assistance
For any assistance with these processes, you are entitled to seek advice from the Judge Advocate General Corps Legal Assistance Office, the Family Law Facilitator in your county, or the child support agency handling your case.