A Florida child support order is not permanent — but it does not change on its own. If your income, the parenting schedule, or your child's needs have shifted, you can ask to have the amount recalculated. There are two ways to do it, and one of them is free.
The authority to change an existing support order when circumstances change after the last order.
The recalculation formula, the 15%/$50 court threshold, and the 10%/$25 standard for Department review.
The administrative process the Department of Revenue follows when a parent requests a review.
Florida does not allow a change simply because a parent would prefer to pay less or receive more. In most cases the change in circumstances must be substantial, permanent, and involuntary — a real shift, expected to last, that you did not choose to bring about. Common qualifying changes include:
a lasting rise or drop in either parent's income (a layoff, a disability, a new job); a change in the time-sharing schedule or the number of overnights; a change in the cost of the child's health insurance or work-related child care; the end of an alimony obligation that fed into the original calculation; a new court-ordered support obligation for another child; or a child reaching majority where support covered more than one child. A parent who simply quits a job or takes a voluntary pay cut usually will not qualify — a court can treat that income as if it were still being earned.
Before you file anything in court, find out which pathway fits your case. Many Florida parents do not need to file a court petition at all.
If your case runs through the Florida Department of Revenue (the state's Child Support Program), you can request a review by contacting them — verbally or in writing. You give them your current financial information, they recalculate, and if the order is off by at least 10% or $25, the Department can pursue the change itself.
There is no filing fee to request a review, and you do not need to hire anyone to ask. This is the path most parents should check first.
If your order came out of a divorce or paternity case and the Department is not involved, you change it by filing a supplemental petition in that same case, in the same circuit court. You prove the substantial change, exchange financial affidavits, and a judge enters a new order.
This is the route covered step-by-step below, with the exact forms and where to get them free.
A court can make a modification retroactive only back to the date you filed your petition — not back to the day your income actually dropped. Every month you wait is a month locked in at the old amount.
If you've lost income, the protective move is to file promptly, even a bare petition, to stop the clock — then build the rest of your case.
These are the current Florida Supreme Court–approved family law forms used in a court modification. Every one is available free from the Florida Courts forms library at flcourts.gov; each form comes with its own step-by-step instructions. You should never have to pay for a blank copy.
“We already agreed to a new amount, so the order is changed.” — It isn't. A private agreement between parents, even in writing, does not change a court order. Until a judge signs a new order, the original amount is what's legally owed and enforceable — and arrears can pile up at the old rate no matter what the two of you agreed. If you've agreed, put it in front of the court to make it official.
An involuntary job loss can qualify — but only if it's substantial and reasonably permanent, and you're making a genuine effort to find comparable work. A court can decline to lower support, or impute income to you, if it concludes you're voluntarily underemployed. Document the loss and your job search.
Yes. Modification runs both directions. A receiving parent can petition for an increase using the same process and forms when the other parent's income has risen or the child's costs have grown. The 15%/$50 (or 10%/$25 for Department cases) threshold applies either way.
No — the forms are designed for self-represented parents and come with instructions. That said, contested modifications, imputed-income disputes, and cases mixing in a time-sharing change get complicated quickly. Many parents handle a straightforward, agreed change themselves and bring in a Florida family-law attorney when the other side disputes it.
At the earliest, to the date the petition was filed. A court cannot reach back to when your circumstances first changed if you waited to file. This is why filing promptly matters.
Start by requesting a review from the Department rather than filing court forms yourself — in Department cases, the agency uses its own declaration and financial forms and can pursue the modification on the lower 10%/$25 standard. Contact the Florida Child Support Program to begin.