The Arkansas General Assembly recently approved Act 927 of 2021 which amended an important component of child support modification law. Child support orders are final orders and cannot be modified by the Court unless the parties’ circumstances have changed enough to justify reviewing the order. Ordinarily, the “changed circumstances” are simply that one of the parties has had an change in their income. Arkansas Code Annotated 9-14-107 sets the standard: a change in gross income in an amount equal to or more than twenty percent or more than $100 per month shall constitute a material change of circumstances sufficient to petition the court for modification of child support.
Anyone can prove a change in income of $100 per month, so the standard set out in 9-14-107 has not been a meaningful bar to a party seeking a modification of an existing child support order. However, Act 927 of 2021 removed “$100 per month,” and leaving only the twenty percent standard. That standard is much more difficult to prove and, when that Act becomes effective at the end of July 2021, the change should stop many attempts at modification of child support that would previously have been permitted.
If you have any questions about child support law in Arkansas, please call Harrison Kemp at 501-222-7378 or email him at harrison@mannkemp.com.