Richard Sheeley received a favorable decision in a post-judgment modification of child support motion he filed on behalf of his client, the Mother (Plaintiff) of two (2) minor children.
In modifying a 2017 judgment of custody in which Mother had primary custody of two (2) minor children and Father paid no child support by agreement of the parties, Mother alleged there was a substantial change in circumstances that required the Court to enter an order of child support in her favor. Father objected alleging there was no change in circumstances and child support should remain zero.
Mother alleged the change in circumstances was two-fold: first, at the time the earlier no-child-support order was entered, she was employed. However, she alleged that she stopped working outside the home in 2023 after she remarried and became a stay-at-home Mother to the two (2) children she has with Defendant Father and three (3) additional children with her new Husband.
Second, since the entry of custody orders providing Father with weekday after school parenting time, Mother alleged she and Father agreed she would retrieve the children after school on Father’s weekdays bringing them to her home for homework, dinner, and preparation for the next day of school before Father would retrieve the children to sleep at his home. Once Mother filed her motion setting forth this arrangement and seeking to modify child support, Father abruptly ended the parties’ informal agreement seeking to eliminate this potential ground for modification.
Over Father’s objection, the Court agreed with Mother that both foregoing circumstances were sufficient changes to permit modification of the order of no child support. While Father submitted a financial affidavit showing he was unemployed, on cross-examination Father admitted his parents paid all his living expenses, he was not looking for work, he was not disabled from employment, and he simply had yet to find a job of interest to him.
The Court granted Mother’s motion and entered a full child support order payable from Father as calculated by the Child Support Guidelines. In so doing, the Court specifically accepted Mother’s position and calculated child support in the manner she proposed by imputing minimum wage earnings at thirty-five (35) hours per week to both parties – a decision illustrating how Halloran Sage attorneys advocate with credibility and obtain the best outcome for our clients.