My ex and I had a parenting plan and child support order in our old state. We both moved to Texas. He’s not paying the full amount, and I really need it increased. The little he does send isn’t enough for clothes and food. Can I go through the Texas OAG to get more child support without transferring everything over? Or do we have to redo the whole thing?
He’s not involved with our child at all, and he didn’t have custody in the old state. I also don’t want to open a new case here if it means he’ll suddenly try to get custody just to lower his payments. He only brings up custody when child support comes up, but he doesn’t actually want it.
I also can’t afford a lawyer. Will I have to go to court for this?
I saw someone already gave you steps on how to apply through the Texas OAG site, and I really recommend doing that. They’ll make sure his paychecks get garnished, which will help you a lot. If he falls too far behind, they can also take his tax return if he gets one.
You should definitely go after what he already owes before trying to increase it. If he’s not paying the full amount now, raising it won’t magically make him pay more.
HOPE said:
You should definitely go after what he already owes before trying to increase it. If he’s not paying the full amount now, raising it won’t magically make him pay more.
This kind of comment isn’t helpful. OP is asking how to modify the order legally, not for personal opinions on whether she should.
Sign up with the Texas OAG. You’ll need to provide the final order from your old state. Texas can register your old order for enforcement and modification.
Texas will pull payment history and past-due amounts from your old state and get everything transferred over. Once Texas has the case, they’ll handle child support moving forward.
This won’t automatically transfer your parenting plan. Custody orders have to go through a different process called UCCJEA. One of you would need to ask your old state to transfer the custody case to Texas. Once Texas registers the order, they take over.
It might be easier to ask your old state to move the entire case at once—child support, custody, everything. This is a lot smoother if both you and your ex agree to the transfer.
Shay said: @Birch
Thanks for this! So if I go through the OAG, they’ll only deal with child support?
Yes. Just tell them both you and your ex now live in Texas and that you want to register your old child support order here for enforcement and modification.
Before applying online, it might help to visit a local office first. They can tell you exactly what documents you need and how things will go from there.
If he’s already not paying the full amount, what makes you think he’ll start paying more if you increase it? Might be smarter to go after what he already owes first.
Nari said:
If he’s already not paying the full amount, what makes you think he’ll start paying more if you increase it? Might be smarter to go after what he already owes first.
Our child support order is over five years old, and his income has gone way up since then. I just never pushed for an increase before.
Yes, you can enforce back payments. The Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA) lets states work together to enforce child support orders from other states.
While you’re handling that, you might also want to ask how to update your custody and child support orders to fit Texas law.
@Ariel
Under UIFSA, once both parents live in the new state, that state can take over the case. So OP can likely handle both enforcement and modification in Texas.
OP, before requesting a modification, you might want to talk to a lawyer just to be sure it’ll actually increase in Texas. Some states calculate child support differently, and there’s a small chance Texas might calculate it lower than your old state. A quick consultation could help you decide if modifying is worth it.
@Shay
What state was your order from? Some states calculate child support higher than Texas. If you moved from somewhere like California, you might want to keep your old order instead of switching.