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Social Security and Child Support
The Social Security Act provides that one-third of any child support received from an absent parent be excluded from countable income. The remaining child support reduces the monthly SSI benefit on a dollar-for-dollar basis, after considering any other applicable exclusions. An SSI child receiving child support is always better off financially than if he or she is not receiving support.One-third of child support received in-kind from the absent parent is also excluded. Box 1 shows how child support affects the SSI benefit for a child with no other income. Although the preferred evidence for verifying child support is court or other official records, the signed allegation of the custodial parent is often used to verify the amount and frequency of child support.
Your child support payments can be changed only by a court’s modification order. The modification process can increase or decrease payments. The ways you can lower child support payments will vary by circumstance. You will need to convince a court that the financial situation of one or both of the parents has changed substantially generally. To lower your payments, you will need to file a motion in court to modify your child support payments. Most courts have pre-printed “fill in the blank” motion forms You will need to file this motion in the court that issued the initial child support order.