Also known as: motions for modification · motion to modify · motion to modify order
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
A request to a court to alter the provisions of an existing maintenance or support order. Modification is permitted only upon a showing of changed circumstances so substantial and continuing as to render the original terms unconscionable, and any change applies solely to installments accruing after the motion is filed.
A request to a court to alter the provisions of an existing maintenance or support order. Modification is permitted only upon a showing of changed circumstances so substantial and continuing as to render the original terms unconscionable, and any change applies solely to installments accruing after the motion is filed.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
A request to a court to alter an existing custody decree. The motion ordinarily may not be filed earlier than two years after entry unless affidavits establish reason to believe the child's present environment may seriously endanger physical, mental, moral, or emotional health.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
A request to a court to alter an existing custody decree. The motion ordinarily may not be filed earlier than two years after entry unless affidavits establish reason to believe the child's present environment may seriously endanger physical, mental, moral, or emotional health.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
Ming Ma lost his job and suffered a permanent reduction in income after the divorce decree ordered him to pay monthly maintenance to Michelle Murphy. He filed a motion for modification seeking to reduce future payments. The court granted the motion because the income loss constituted a substantial and continuing change rendering the original terms unconscionable, but the reduction applied only to installments accruing after the filing date.
Musa Mensah petitioned to modify a maintenance award after his former spouse's remarriage altered financial needs. The court examined whether the remarriage and related income changes met the threshold for modifying future installments only.
Melanie Morris moved to modify an existing child support order after her income increased substantially due to a new job. The court evaluated whether the increase was substantial and continuing enough to render the prior terms unconscionable for future payments.
The moving party must demonstrate changed circumstances so substantial and continuing as to make the original terms unconscionable. Modification applies only to installments accruing after the motion is filed.
Supporting sources
No. The motion addresses only whether circumstances have changed enough to alter future obligations. It does not permit relitigation of the original decree's legal or factual basis.
Supporting sources
Mariam Mansour sought to modify a custody decree less than two years after it was entered, alleging the child's current living situation endangered the child's emotional health. She supported the motion with affidavits detailing the risk. The court permitted the motion to proceed because the affidavits established reason to believe serious harm existed, bypassing the ordinary two-year waiting period.
Meredith Maxwell obtained an injunction affecting custody arrangements. When new facts showed the child's environment endangered emotional health, she filed a motion for modification supported by affidavits. The court considered whether the motion could proceed without the ordinary two-year waiting period.
Momentum Capital sought to modify a custody-related order after intervening events created risk of serious harm to the child. The court assessed whether affidavits permitted the motion despite the two-year bar.
A motion to modify a custody decree generally may not be made earlier than two years after entry unless the court permits it to be made on the basis of affidavits that there is reason to believe the child's present environment may endanger seriously his physical, mental, moral, or emotional health.
Supporting sources
…practice, the sole question legitimately presented on appeal of the District Court's decision denying petitioners' Rule 60(b)(5) motion to modify the Aguilar injunction would be: Did the District Court abuse its discretion when it concluded that neither the facts nor the law had so changed as to warrant alteration of the…