Your child support and custody arrangement might have been the right solution at the time in which they were created, but now they are no longer relevant. Maybe you feel frustrated or even embarrassed to be in this situation and are wondering why you can no longer make it work. You are not the first person in Texas to go through this exact situation. Even the most carefully constructed child custody agreements cannot predict the future, and making changes is sometimes necessary.
Parents who divorce when their children are quite young are a good example of this. You and your ex may have spent anywhere from a few months to several years following a child custody agreement that works for everyone, but now your child is starting school and everything is changing. You cannot truly anticipate a child’s needs when he or she enters school, and schedules that worked before might interfere with those needs. The same is true when a child moves on to middle or high school.
Child support can also be changed if needed. For example, if you are paying child support and earn more or less than you did in the past, a modification may be in order. Like with custody, your child’s needs can also influence a support order. The cost of extracurricular activities and sports can be quite expensive, so if he or she starts a new activity or the cost goes up, it is possible that your ex may request the support order be modified to reflect that change.
You know that your child custody agreement should reflect your child’s best interests and that support is important to his or her well-being. However, you want to be sure that the custody order still represents those interests and that you are not paying more than you should. Both of these are reasonable justifications for trying to have one or both of these orders modified. You can learn more about those reasons and other Texas family law topics right here on our website.
