Custody & Child Support Modification - Respondent

Important Child Support Laws: 

• Recipients of certain public benefits. People who receive certain public benefits, such as SNAP or POWER, have to assign their rights to support to, and cooperate with, the department of family services in establishing the paternity of the child/ren, and the establishment, enforcement and modification of support obligations. If you or your children receive public benefits, contact your Department of Family Services Caseworker or local child support enforcement office as a change in child support may affect your benefits. (Wyo. Stat. §20-6-105.)
• Military Personnel: Military regulations specify that military duty will not be used as a basis for avoiding family support obligations, but setting the level of support is a civilian matter. It is most common to set the support obligation based on basic military pay. You can go to www.dfas.mil for updates on military pay and many other issues. If military pay and benefits are an issue in your child support case, you may want to contact an attorney for assistance. The following is also a helpful website: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/css.
• Overtime compensation: Overtime compensation is not counted in the “net income” unless the court, after considering all overtime earnings derived in the preceding twenty-four (24) month period, determines the overtime earnings can reasonably be expected to continue on a consistent basis.
• Entry of income withholding order. An income withholding order (IWO) enables an employer to take child support out of the pay of the parent obligated to pay. The court always enters an IWO which takes effect immediately, unless the parties agree otherwise, or unless one (1) of the parties demonstrates, and the court finds, that there is good cause not to require immediate income withholding. When the parties agree to an alternative arrangement, the arrangement must be in writing, signed by the parties and reviewed and entered in the record by the court. The court shall include in the record its findings of good cause, including a statement explaining why implementation of immediate income withholding would not be in the best interests of the child and, in cases involving modification of child support, proof of timely payments. An income withholding order, which did not become effective immediately upon entry, becomes effective upon the earliest of the following:
  • (i) the date the parent paying requests withholding commence; or
  • (ii) child support becomes delinquent in payment of an amount equal to one (1) month's support obligation under the support order. e. Limits on amounts withheld: The total amount that can be withheld from any employee's paycheck is limited by the Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA).
    • The limits provided in the CCPA are fifty percent (50%) of disposable earnings if the parent who pays child support has a second family and sixty percent (60%) if there is no second family. These limits are each increased by five percent (5%) if payments are in arrears for a period equal to twelve (12) weeks or more. See definition of disposable income in paragraph 4 below. 
• Social security or veteran’s benefits. If your children receive part of a parent’s social security or veteran benefits, you might want to contact an attorney or legal services program for assistance with child support calculation. If a proportion of a support obligor's (person who is supposed to pay child support) social security or veteran's benefit is paid directly to the custodian (parent or guardian with custody of the children) of the obligor's children who are the subject of the child support order, the total amount of the social security or veteran's benefit, including the amounts paid to the obligor and custodian under the child support order, will be counted as gross income to the obligor (count the amount the children receive as income to the parent who has to pay support). You will need to calculate the child support due and subtract the amount of the social security or veteran's benefit sent directly to the custodial parent from the noncustodial (obligor's) parent’s share of presumptive support. If the subtraction of the social security or veteran's benefit sent directly to the custodian results in a negative dollar amount, the support amount shall be set at zero. The child support obligation shall be offset by the amount of the social security or veteran's benefit sent directly to the custodian, beginning from the time the custodian began receiving the social security or veteran's benefit. Wyo. Stat. §20-2-304(e).
• Date new amount of child support begins. An order for child support is not subject to retroactive modification except: (i) Upon agreement of the parties; or (ii) The order may be modified with respect to any period during which a petition for modification is pending, but only from the date notice of that petition was served on the Respondent. Wyo. Stat. §20-2-311(d).
• When the child support obligation ends. An on-going child support obligation terminates when the:
  • (i) Parents marry or remarry each other (After the remarriage of the parents to each other, the court may eliminate all child support arrearage existing between the parents except those assigned to the state of Wyoming);
  • (ii) Child dies;
  • (iii) Child is legally emancipated; or
  • (iv) Child attains the age of majority. (See “age of majority” definition below.)