Motion to Modify or Amend Divorce Decree to Provide for Decrease in Amount of Child Support

A decree for child support is res judicata only as long as the circumstances remain the same as when the court rendered the decree. The doctrine of res judicata is based on the concept that parties should not call upon a court to adjudicate twice the same set of facts. Therefore, a party generally cannot base a petition to modify an order for child support on the same set of facts that existed when the original order was made. To justify a modification of a child support order, a court must find that there has been a change in the material circumstances of the parties or the children since the time of the original order. The burden of proving a change of circumstances is on the party seeking the modification. (more...)