You and your partner have been divorced for a while. However, as time passes, you find that some of the terms in your divorce settlement don’t work for you, your children, and your ex-spouse’s situation anymore. What do you do? Get the services of a divorce modification attorney.
There’s always going to be changes in your life – that is inevitable. For instance, your children are now in college and may need more financial education to pursue their education. Or perhaps your employer has asked you and co-workers to take reduced pay due to the business going through some issues. Or maybe you’ve never been fulfilled with the divorce settlement in the first place.
When the terms of your divorce don’t meet the latest changes in your life, you need to turn to a divorce modification attorney for professional legal guidance.
Agree to Change
If you and your former partner both agree to the changes you want to implement in your divorce settlement, you’re free to work with a divorce modification attorney together to make the process relatively easy and straightforward.
If the family court shares your viewpoint on the matter, you can be granted a modification to the settlement without fail.
Similar to filing for divorce, you and your former spouse must prepare a revised agreement with the help of a divorce modification attorney. This step ensures that there should be any issues down the line as you file for a divorce modification.
After this step, the divorce modification attorney of whoever wanted to make changes to the settlement submits the agreement on your behalf – this makes the agreement court-ordered.
However, if you and your former spouse don’t agree to the proposed changes to the terms of your divorce, don’t be surprised if you get a somewhat similar reliving of your divorce battle.
A Change in Your Life
You want to change the terms of your divorce, but your former spouse doesn’t. You can’t resolve your issues outside the court.
What do you do?
It’s time to employ the services of a divorce modification attorney.
Your attorney can then speak with the attorney of your former spouse to hopefully resolve your differences.
However, if this isn’t the case, a motion with the court shall be filed, which will then allow for a hearing to be scheduled.
At the hearing, your divorce modification attorney will present evidence and testimonies supporting your claim and justifying your need for the changes to the divorce terms. Your former partner’s attorney is also free to challenge these claims.
The court will not agree to a change – especially if you’re reasoning is simply because you don’t think the terms are favorable to you. You must present a solid claim as to why you’re seeking changes.
Custody and Visitation
If you want to make changes specifically to the child custody clause in your divorce settlement, the primary thing you need to accomplish is to prove a valid need for the change you’re seeking – whether it’s a change brought about by your own circumstances, the changes in your child’s life, or your former partner’s circumstances.
Some examples of these changes include:
- You or your former spouse is relocating to a different part of the country – far away that you can’t visit your child regularly.
- The income of the parent providing child support payment has either increased or decreased.
- The children are not adequately taken care of when they are visiting with your former partner. There’s a variety of reasons for this scenario: 1) former spouse has an addiction or substance abuse problem; 2) former spouse is working excessively, and as a result, your children are left home alone, or; 3) your former spouse merely is neglecting to take care of your children, and so on.
Family courts are more open to allowing changes to divorce terms if they involve spousal support, child support agreements, or any other terms of the custody.
Mediation Proceeding
If you and your former spouse don’t agree on the modifications one of you wants to implement to the terms of your divorce, try a mediation proceeding. This option is a good way to prevent any emotional turmoil as well as the legal expense of hiring a divorce lawyer and having to go through family court yet again.
Daniel L. Fischer
As a Family and Divorce Lawyer practicing for more than 30 years, I sometimes handle other types of cases for longstanding clientele. I’ve been happily married to my college sweetheart for over 36 years. Together we have 6 grown children and 9 grandchildren that make our world go round.