Are Modifications of Child Support Retroactive in Massachusetts?

All Massachusetts parents are required to financially support their minor children. Courts use a series of guidelines to establish a non-custodial parent’s child support obligations based on income and other factors. Either parent is also free to request a modification of an existing support order, which can increase, decrease, or outright abolish support payments moving forward.

Mass. Judge Denies Retroactive Change Due to Mother’s Failure to Push Modification

One question many parents have about child support modification orders is whether or not they are retroactive. For example, if a judge decides that a parent should pay more in child support based on a change in circumstances, can that higher amount be applied to payments that have already been made?

The short answer is that Massachusetts law does not strictly require a judge to make a modification of a child support order retroactive. But as the Appeals Court of Massachusetts explained in a 2009 decision, Whelan v. Whelan, when a judge decides to increase a parent’s child support obligation, the court must also consider “the appropriateness of a retroactive award.” Basically, the judge can make the increase retroactive to the point when the petition for modification was filed, and should normally do so unless the court makes specific findings that “retroactivity would be contrary to the child’s best interests, unjust, or inappropriate.”

The key here is that the court need only consider a retroactive award dating back to when the custodial parent actually asked for a modification of the non-custodial parent’s support. A more recent decision from the Appeals Court, Jones v. Ridley, helps to illustrate this point. In this case, the father of three minor children sued the mother for divorce in 2014. A year later, a Massachusetts court issued a temporary child support order requiring the father to pay the mother $126 per week.

The divorce case took several years to litigate. During this time, neither parent asked for a modification of the temporary child support order. Following a 2017 trial, the court issued a final divorce judgment, which included an increase in the father’s child support obligation to $321 per week.

The mother asked the court to make the increased child support obligation retroactive. The trial court declined and the Appeals Court upheld that decision. To put it simply, the trial judge said the mother never sought modification herself while the divorce was pending. Had she asked for, and been granted, a modification during the divorce case, the judge would have been required to consider whether retroactivity was in the child’s best interests. But since the mother never took the initiative, the judge was not required to act. The Appeals Court added in its own decision that a judge “may consider a parent’s delay in seeking retroactive child support” when considering such requests in the future.

Contact a Peabody Modification Lawyer Today

If you believe that a change in circumstances justifies a change in your child custody, child support, or alimony obligations, it is important to take timely action to preserve your rights under Massachusetts law. Our Peabody modification lawyers are here to help. Contact Reade Law Firm, PC, today at 978-767-8383 to schedule a consultation.

Sources:

scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=8249224777381395539

google.com/scholar_case?case=888903375609016984