Morales v. Morales

Mother and Father were divorced by a judgment of divorce dated 2008 that granted shared legal custody of the parties' child and physical custody to Mother. The judgment included an order directing Father to pay child support to Mother. In 2009, Mother filed a complaint for modification of the child support order, claiming that Father's promotion and increased salary had changed the circumstances underlying the original support order. The trial judge dismissed the modification complaint, finding that the increase in Father's income was not a material and substantial change of circumstances and that no modification was warranted. The appeals court affirmed. The Supreme Court reversed, concluding that the trial judge erred in applying a standard requiring a material and substantial change in circumstances rather than the standard set forth in Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 208, 28, which provides that a child support order shall be modified if there is an inconsistency between the amount of the existing order and the amount that would result from application of the Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines. Remanded for consideration of the modification request under the statutory inconsistency standard. View "Morales v. Morales" on Justia Law