A paying party may seek to have support decreased, and a receiving party may seek to have support increased. When seeking to modify child support, one should first determine what the guideline child support would be if modified, which is based on calculations on the current income of the person paying child support. Then one simply looks to see if the difference is worth going to court over. The possessory conservator will be ordered to pay support based on the judge's decision as to what is in the best interest of the child. The judge may consider a number of factors, but the Texas Family Code provides a formula that calculates a support figure that is presumed to be in the best interest of the child.
Some judges require overwhelming evidence to deviate from the statutory guidelines.
The basic formula is fairly simple, and it works in most situations. Generally, the earning potential of the person receiving child support is irrelevant, as is the income of the new spouse of the person paying child support. Assuming none of the special circumstances above apply, one takes the monthly gross income of the person paying child support, deducts the required deductions for income tax and social security, and winds up with a net number. The Texas Attorney General produces tables annually to assist in this calculation. Click here for the AG's charts.