When a couple goes through a divorce, the issues are resolved based upon the current information as known at the time of the divorce. For example, child support will be awarded based upon the parents' current incomes and custody/visitation will be awarded based, in part, on the schedules of the parents and children. After a divorce, however, many things can change, including a parent's job, a child's school, and a parent's place of residence. Any one of these changes can change a divorce decree from something that worked great for a family into something that is no longer appropriate given the changed circumstances. In these cases, a parent may seek to modify some terms of that divorce decree. In Georgia, the law gives a parent the right to petition for a child support modification if "there is a substantial change in either parent's income and financial status or the needs of the child." OCGA §19-6-15(k)(1).
Morty Coyle, the ex-husband of actress Jodie Sweetin is currently attempting to do just that. Jodie Sweetin's third husband wants money for child support, by Jaclyn Hendricks, pagesix.com, January 6, 2017. When the parties finalized their divorce last year, their decree awarded them joint legal and physical custody of their daughter, required Sweetin to pay her Coyle $10,000, and directed them to divide the income made during their marriage. No child support was awarded to either party, likely based upon their respective incomes (Sweetin made $4,000/month at the time and Coyle made $2,000/month). In his recently filed child support modification action, Coyle is claiming that Sweetin now makes $600,000/year due to her highly successful Netflix series "Fuller House" and other endeavors, while his income remains unchanged. Accordingly, he is seeking child support as well as payment of his legal fees and a forensic accountant.
If Coyle's claims about Sweetin's income are correct, he likely has a good case for a child support modification. If this case were in Georgia, Sweetin's increase in income from $4,000/month to $50,000/month is clearly a substantial change. As such, the court will use her new income to determine the appropriate amount of child support that should be paid. This will not be the only factor a court will consider, however. The court will also look at how much time the child spends with each parent as well as other child related expenses that each parent may be paying. While this may affect the amount of child support that Sweetin ultimately pays, it is very unlikely that she will walk away paying nothing when there is such a huge disparity in her income versus that of her ex.