Changing The Amount I Pay In Child Support

by Brian Young
(Manchester, N.H. USA)

My son just turned 7 years old. His mom and I were married, but got divorced 5 1/2 years ago. When I agreed to child support..I had extra money and great credit. Now, I can't even afford to live on my own and my credit is bad. I get my son every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. She has claimed him every year on Income taxes. I pay $167.00 a week. Now that he no longer has to go to day care(which was $155.00 per week) I feel my child support should be lowered. She makes about $40,000 per year And I make about $45,000 per year. After taxes and insurance and paying child support, I bring home just under $460.00 per week. A small two bedroom apartment costs around $800-$900 per month..Nothing included. When figuring out child support do I automatically have to pay 25% of my gross income or is it figured out by combining both our incomes and going from there? We are both still unmarried. When I have him, obviously I still need to purchase groceries and have a roof over his head. Now she feels I should be the one to buy his extra cirucular activity items...such as cleats, baseball pants..etc.. I'm just wondering if I have a case in being able to pusue lowering my child support. Thanks for any assistance you can give me.