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Can the courts overrule child support amounts in separation agreements?
No matter what the child support provisions in a separation agreement say, they are not fixed in stone. The court has both inherent and statutory authority to protect a minor child’s interest. Thus, no contract can deprive the court of its inherent supervisory power, during a child’s minority, to enforce or modify an agreed-upon support provision. Although child support provisions in a private contract are not directly modifiable by the court, absent the parties’ consent, a court having proper jurisdiction is free at all times during the child’s minority to enter an order of child support and/or to modify an existing order based on a showing of changed circumstances. The fact that child support is provided for in an agreement, then, does not mean that the court cannot order a different amount of support to be paid. Also, if there is a pre-existing court order for chid support, a showing of changed circumstances can convince the court to alter the amount of support.
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