Seattle Attorneys Blog
In some cases, circumstances change after a court orders child support. A Washington child support order may be modified if there has been a substantial change in circumstances, if it has been a year or more since the order was entered and it causes a “severe economic hardship. . .” or if it has been two years or more since the last order, adjustment or modification was entered, and there have been changes in the income of either party. RCW 26.09.170. In a recent unpublished case, a father challenged a modification to his child support modification after the court found he had inherited more than $5.1 million and calculated his gross monthly income at $425,000.
According to the appeals court’s opinion, the father petitioned for divorce in 2018 and the court ultimately issued a final divorce decree, parenting plan, and child support order.
The mother petitioned for modification of the child support order several years later. The father testified he had recently come into an inheritance and the wife offered evidence to show he had used the inheritance to support himself while he was not employed. The court held that a modification was warranted due to the inheritance, along with the mother’s new income and her own inheritance. According to the court’s order, the mother had received $186,819 and the father more than $5.1 million in non-retirement assets and sums. The court also noted the mother’s new income was $5,883.14.