Child support is formula driven, but can be deviated from for a host of legitimate reasons. The major impact on child support is income of each party and other children a person is obligated to support.

Delinquency in payment of child support is often dealt with harshly by the court, regardless of reason.

If you have come to a private arrangement with the other parent of your child regarding decreasing or raising the amount of child support you MUST get it court approved or you could be in for a lot of trouble down the road. I represented a client whose ex-wife had agreed to only take half of the court ordered child support and then 15 years later when she lost her job she filed suit for nonpayment of the court ordered amount. Bye the time he hired me the court had ordered over $150,000 in arrearage and interest; I was able to get this number substantially reduced, but if they had gone to court 15 years earlier the amount would have been zero plus no legal bills and heartache. Also, if the custodial party ever ends up receiving state aid the state will most likely seek out the “delinquent” amount to offset the amount of aid paid by them, regardless of what either party wants.