10.6 Adjustment

Federal Authority:


Social Security Act

§452(f) and (k)  Duties of the Secretary

§454(20) State plan for child support and spousal support 

§466(a)(10) and (d) Requirement of statutorily prescribed procedures to improve effectiveness of child support enforcement

§467 State guidelines for child support awards 


Code of Federal Regulations

45 CFR 302.56 Guidelines for setting child support awards

45 CFR 303.106 Procedures to prohibit retroactive modification of child support arrearages 

45 CFR 308 Annual State Self Assessment Review and Report 

State Authority:

Wyoming Statute

Wyo. Stat. § 20-2-311 Adjustment of child support orders 


Wyoming Child Support Enforcement Rules

Chapter 4 General Services 

Policy Number:  10.6

Effective Date:  October 1, 2010

Overview

In Wyoming, modification actions are filed in a civil docket of the original child support order in District Court.  In order to modify child support and/or medical support, the District Child Support Program (CSP) Office shall be prepared to provide the District Court with the following basic elements:


Policy

In Wyoming, the District CSP Office will file a Petition for Modification of Support with the District Court.  Each party will be served with the petition and hearing notice.  If the non-requesting party did not provide a completed Wyoming Supreme Court financial affidavit during the review process, the case worker will serve the non-requesting party with the financial affidavit along with the other court documents.  

Medical Support

When modifying a child support obligation, the case worker will also review the order to ensure medical support is addressed.  

Once the parties are served, the action may proceed in one of three ways: default, stipulation or contested case.

Default

If the non-requesting parent is served and does not respond to the Petition for Modification of Support within the timeframes provided by the Wyoming Rules of Civil Procedure (WRCP), the District CSP Office may default the non-requesting parent by following the WRCP for default judgments and the requirements of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA).  

The SCRA provides protections for military personnel involved in civil actions.  Specifically, before a default judgment can be entered the following will occur.

For details regarding default judgments and the SCRA, please see Appendix 15.B – Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.

In addition to the presumptive child support amount, the default order will also address medical support as discussed in 8.4 Establishment - Medical Support along with a retroactive judgment to the date of the petition and costs and fees of the action.

Stipulation

Once the District CSP Office receives enough information to calculate presumptive child support as described in 10.5 Review Completion, the District CSP Office may contact the parties with the presumed child support amount to see if they would like to stipulate to the child support amount along with any judgments based upon child support arrears.  If so, the District CSP Office will draft a stipulation for both parties’ signatures and file the stipulation along with an order for the District Court Judge to sign.  

If neither of the parties is receiving means tested sources of income, the parties may agree to a deviation as described below; however, the District Court Judge shall still sign an order approving the deviation.

Deviations

A District Court may deviate from the presumptive child support amount.  If the District Court deviates from the presumptive support amount, the court order will contain the presumptive child support amount, the actual support amount, and the specific reason for the deviation.

The deviation factors the District Court may consider are:

Note:  District CSP Offices will not agree to a deviation between the parties when one party is receiving means tested sources of income (i.e. Pell grants, POWER grants, SNAP benefits, Medicaid, and SSI – see Wyo. Stat. § 20-2-303(a)(ii)).  The District Court will decide if a deviation is appropriate for the situation.

Contested Cases

If the parties cannot agree on the child support or wish to deviate in cases where one of the parties is receiving means tested sources of income, the District CSP Office will set the case for hearing before a District Court Judge.  The District Court Judge will hear testimony and determine if a modification of the child support obligation is appropriate.  In addition to child support and if appropriate as described above, the District Court Judge will also address medical support along with any child support arrears and costs and fees of the action.

Party Represented by an Attorney

If an attorney represents a case party, the District CSP Office shall follow certain guidelines regarding release of information and communication with the party or attorney.  See 3.6 Confidentiality and Safeguarding Information – Release of Information and Appendix  Counsel 10.A Communication Persons Represented by Counsel

Cross Reference

Appendix 10.A – Communication with Persons Represented by Counsel

Appendix 15.B – Servicemembers Civil Relief Act

Version Number:  2    

Last Revised Date:  April 20, 2017

Last Reviewed:  May 31, 2024