Q: I been divorced for 6 years she has custody of the 2 children we both agreed that if I take a reduced amount of her
Pension the child support would remain at the aggree amount until the kids become 18 now she trying to change the divorce agreement and served me with court papers what my rights the child support office is reviewing my income and taking me to court for increase support
A:
Typically, the division of the parties' marital estate is treated as being separate and distinct from the determination of child support. Courts rarely approve an agreement whereby one party receives less marital property in exchange for an agreement to pay less child support.
At the time of your divorce, your attorney should have advised you that the amount of child support can be modified in the future based upon a change in circumstances, including an increase or decrease in your net income. You also should have been advised that the State, through the Office of the Attorney General, may seek a modification in the amount of child support without your ex-spouse's approval, particularly if any form of government aid is sought for your child.
Your divorce agreement would need to be extremely explicit about the terms of the agreement. For example, it might say you receive only $X of her pension unless the amount of child support you are ordered to pay changes in which case you will be entitled to a different dollar amount of her pension. Any argument that there was simply an implicit agreement whereby you agreed to accept less of her pension as part of your property division because she agreed to accept a lower amount of child support is unlikely to be successful.
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