Hurricane Katrina: Legal Issues - Columbus School of Law

award. A decrease in child support must be made prospectively, because child support payments that become due
while a petition for modification is pending are vested and cannot be forgiven or modified. Thurman v. Thurman,
559 So. 2d 1014 (Miss. 1990).
Is an out-of-court agreement between parents for a temporary reduction in support valid?
In Mississippi, an out-of-court agreement between parents to modify child support is not ordinarily enforceable.
Armstrong v. Armstrong, 618 So. 2d 1278, 1280 (Miss. 1993). A payor should not rely on an out-of-court agreement
to reduce support – custodial parents have recovered substantial arrearages in spite of their agreement to reduce
support. Houck v. Ousterhout, 861 So. 2d 1000, 1002 (Miss. 2003) (finding father in arrears in the amount of
$89,000). But see Dorr v. Dorr, 797 So. 2d 1008 (Miss. Ct. App. 2001) (suggesting in dicta that out-of-court
agreements may be honored in some cases, if the child is not adversely affected).
How does a temporary change in custody affect child support?
Support is modified when a noncustodial parent takes physical custody, even though no court order changing custody
is entered. Frazier v. Burnett, 767 So. 2d 263, 267-68 (Miss. Ct. App. 2000). No support should be paid for the
months in which a child lives with the parent who is legally the noncustodial parent. See Alexander v. Alexander, 494
So. 2d 365, 368 (Miss. 1986) (even though no modification petition filed for twenty months). Temporary custody
refers to an actual change in living arrangements, not to a situation in which a child stays a week or two with
someone other than the custodial parent.
What if someone other than the parents has temporary custody?
Support should be paid by the noncustodial parent to the person who has actual physical custody of a child.
How can a parent collect support from a noncustodial parent who has relocated?
An outstanding order of support may be registered in another state for enforcement. A payee may also send a child
support order directly to a payor’s employer in another state without first registering the order. The employer must
immediately notify the employee and begin withholding. A payee may also, without registering an order, send the
payor’s state enforcement agency the order and request that it use any available administrative enforcement
mechanisms to collect the amount due. The Department of Human Services may seize financial accounts and certain
payments such as worker’s compensation payments, life insurance, or tax refunds, to satisfy unpaid child support.
How is support modified if the parents live in different states?
Modification of child support in interstate cases is governed by the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act. Under this
Act, a support order must be modified by the court that issued the order so long as either parent or the child remain
in that state. No other state has jurisdiction to modify the order. Miss. Code Ann. § 93-25-17 (2004). However, the
parties may consent to a transfer of jurisdiction to another state. Miss. Code Ann. § 93-25-17(2)(a) (2004). If all
parties have moved from the state where the order was issued, the order must be modified by a court in the state
whether the defendant lives. Miss. Code Ann. § 93-25-17(2)(a) (2004).
What if the noncustodial parent cannot be found?
In every state, the agency responsible for establishing and collecting child support in that state is linked to a national
parent locator service. In Mississippi, the responsible agency is the Child Support Division of the Mississippi
Department of Human Services.