Best v. Oliver (Mississippi 2020)

To modify a child support order, there must be a material change in circumstances that wasn’t foreseeable when the original order was established. While an increase in a child’s expenses is foreseeable, the amount of the increase is not. The mother and father divorced, and the father was ordered to pay support for their only child. Several years later, the mother filed to modify citing father’s increase in income, the child’s increase in expenses, and a change in her financial situation. The chancery court granted the modification, and the father appealed. He argued that a change in expenses is foreseeable. The appellate court disagreed and affirmed the modification. The court noted that while it is foreseeable that a child may have greater expenses, the amount of the increase is not. This is what the modification process is designed to address. The appellate court found the chancery court considered the appropriate factors in modifying the order.