Modifying Your Oregon Divorce Judgment

A divorce (or custody case) is a major life event which is based on the circumstances that exist at the time your judgment is finalized. What happens if things change several months or even several years after your judgment has been signed? Here is a basic guide to modifying your divorce or custody judgment in Oregon. This is only an overview and is not intended to be legal advice – you should discuss the specifics of your situation with your mediator or attorney.

Overview. Generally speaking, child related issues and spousal support are subject to modification. Property division, on the other hand, is final. A property division can only be reopened if you discover that an asset or liability was omitted (either accidentally or intentionally) from your original judgment. ORS 107.452 is the statute that applies if an asset was overlooked in the original divorce.

Child Support. Child support can be modified when 1) there has been a substantial change of financial circumstances; 2) every three years even if there is no change of circumstances; or 3) if both parents agree to the change. It is important to note that a change to child support must be put into a new judgment which gets signed by a judge. It is not sufficient to have a “handshake” deal regarding child support.

In Oregon child support can be paid up until age 21 if the child qualifies as a “child attending school” under ORS 107.108. What this means (oddly enough) is that your child is a party to your divorce between the ages of 18 and 21 and that he or she can file a motion to modify your divorce judgment to seek child support from either or both parents.
Parenting Plan. The legal standard for modifying a parenting plan is simply a “best interest of the child” standard. In other words, if someone thinks it is in the child’s best interest to change the plan, they can make a formal request to change it either by filing a motion with the court or proposing to go through the mediation process.

Like child support, a parenting plan can be modified anytime both parents agree. One-time change do not need to be put into a new parenting plan. However, if you are going to make a permanent change to the parenting plan then you should submit a new parenting plan to the court (using a Stipulated Supplemental Judgment) and get it signed by a judge. You should be aware that a new parenting plan is not enforceable unless it is in a new judgment that is signed by a judge.

There is a common misconception in Oregon that there is a certain age at which children are allowed to pick where they live. That is not true. However, based on the circumstances of your situation (e.g., child’s age, maturity level, etc.), a child’s preference may be taken into account in developing the parenting plan. In certain situations parents will sometimes include their teenage children in the mediation process when developing a parenting plan so that the children’s preference can be considered.

Decision Making (Custody). The decision-making provision of your judgment (i.e., legal custody) is subject to modification as long as your children are under 18. Joint custody can essentially be modified whenever one parent decides that joint custody is no longer working well and files a motion to sever joint custody. At that point the court has to award sole custody to one parent or the other since there can be no joint custody in Oregon unless both parents agree. Sole custody can only be modified when there has been a substantial and unanticipated change of circumstances that goes to the ability of one parent or the other to care for the children.

Spousal Support. Spousal support (alimony) can be modified any time that both parties agree to it. If there is no agreement, then applicable legal standard is that there must be an “unanticipated and substantial change of circumstances” to change support, i.e., a major life event. Just because there has been a major life change does not necessarily mean that support will be modified; it only means that someone can request a modification. Whether or not there is a modification will depend on the facts and circumstances at the time that the request is made.

Common reasons for modifying spousal support include retirement of the payor, the payor losing his or her job, the recipient getting remarried or the recipient changing careers and significant increasing his or her own earnings. Again, just because one of these things happens does not automatically mean that a spousal support modification will be granted.

As with child support, a new spousal support agreement must be put into a new judgment which gets signed by a judge. Failure to put the modified support arrangement into new judgment will make the agreement ineffective and can lead to some very serious negative consequences for one or both parties.

Spousal support can only be modified as long as there is a spousal support order in place. Additionally, spousal support cannot be ordered later on if there was never a spousal support order in the first place. Lastly, if your spousal support order has ended it cannot be reinstated. There is an exception to this rule which is that if spousal support had been terminated early and the reason for termination has ended the spousal support can be reinstated if you are still within the timeframe of the original support award.

Misc. Issues. There are a number of other smaller issues that are subject to modification, although they are typically only addressed if one of the major issues above is also being modified.

Some of those smaller issues include:
• Who will provide health insurance for the children;
• How the children’s unreimbursed medical expenses will be paid;
• How non-medical expenses for the children will be paid;
• The amount of life insurance that needs to be maintained; and
• Who will claim the children on their taxes.

Mediation tends to be a very efficient process for dealing with modifications. Usually a modification can be mediated in just one or two mediation appointments. Once an agreement is reached, Forrest can prepare all of the necessary documents and file them on your behalf. There is a $150 filing fee that gets paid directly to the court each time you file a modification.