It can be dropped or elevated based on a variety of criteria related to the child's needs.
The parents also have no influence on when or whether support modification occurs.The court has the final authority in the matter & will execute the modification if the circumstances (of the non-custodial parent, the custodial parent, or the child) change.
There are add-on amounts like visitation travel expenses and other expenses deemed "for the child," which are considered in the child's best interests.Once the amount of support is set, changes in circumstances must be present for the California child support modification to take place.
These are determined on a case-by-case basis because there are no set, specific guidelines on how significant any circumstance changes must be to warrant reviewing the case.The California family law court can also base child support on a parent's income potential rather than actual income.
This sometimes causes a modification in cases where it's believed the non-custodial parent is attempting to avoid paying child support or by earning below his or her ability.
If the ability & potential to work for a certain income is there, the court can base child support on that amount, whether or not the parent is actually earning that income at the time.There are very obvious cases where child support modification might be called for when the non-custodial parent spends more time with the child or becomes more physically responsible for the child.