Legal Question in Family Law in Ohio

Re: Child support modification

All of the states in the U.S. now use some form of child support guidelines. (You can find a link to the Ohio guidelines from the National Child Support Enforcement Agency web page at http://www.ncsea.org/NSCEA_links.htm ). Nearly all of the courts apply the child support guidelines to each and every case. The court that initially made your child support order is the court that can change your child support. If you were earning more money in Ohio than you are earning in NM there is a good chance that your ex had asked the court to change your child support before you left Ohio or during some period of time before you let her know that you had changed jobs.

You did not say whether you had discussed with the child's mother the fact that you were moving to N.M. (It might make some difference in whether or why you left Ohio). If you are making substantially less money in NM it will be incumbent on you to file a motion in the state court where your child support order was initially made and then prove your case that you really tried to make the same amount of money as your previous job but you just cannot do it. If the court believes that you moved from Ohio to NM just to make less money then you may have a hard time getting the judge to lower your child support. However, if you moved in "good faith" and the court believes that you left your last job and moved to NM in goodfaith then you may have your child support lowered.

The end result is that you have to do everything you can to pay the support ordered. If it is an oppresive amount then ask the court to lower the actual amount you pay but let the arrears accumulate and pay them off after the child turns 18. That is not an unreasonable request if you are really have a difficult financial time.