FAMILY LAW
Modifying Court Orders
As circumstances change, the orders that the Court previously entered or the agreements that you had previously reached become outdated, no longer serve your or your children’s interests, and need to be changed. The standards to be applied in modifying orders, however, are often times different than the standards applied by the Court in the first instance. Nathan and the team at McGuire Law understand whether an order may be modified and, if so, advise you on how best to achieve the appropriate modification.
Divorce and Legal Separation
Allocation of Parental Responsibilities
Non-Parent Caregivers
Modifying Court Orders
Appealing Court Orders
Mediation and Collaboration
Modifying Court Orders
At the end of your family law case, you will receive Court orders on issues such as parenting time, decision-making, spousal maintenance, and child support. Going forward, circumstances will change, and it may become necessary to change those orders. Courts are very particular in assessing requests to modify orders, and errors in presenting matters to the Court can prove fatal to your request.
Whether you have reached an agreement to resolve your family law case or the Court has entered orders resolving your family law case, certain provisions of the resulting orders are subject to future modification.
As children get older and the lives of their parents change, it may be necessary to adjust the parenting time schedule to accommodate those changes. As the parties’ financial circumstances change, it may be necessary to modify child support or spousal maintenance to address those changes.
In some circumstances, the need to change orders is simply the result of the natural progression of life. Children get older and have different needs and we must address those new needs by adjusting the parenting time schedule. Parties get promotions or pursue new career opportunities, and these changes require a change in the amount of monthly support to be paid to their ex-spouse or the other parent.
In other circumstances, the changes are more extreme and require immediate intervention, such as children needing to be protected from an abusive or neglectful parent, or a party needing relief from an onerous financial order due to an involuntary job termination.
Whatever the situation, there are very specific standards that must be applied, processes that must be adhered to, and requirements that must be met to achieve a successful outcome. Understanding how best to move through the modification process is imperative as errors at any stage may prove fatal to your chances of success.
At McGuire Law, we have that knowledge and experience to guide you through the modification process.