Revised Code of Washington
Chapter 26.09 - Dissolution Proceedings—Legal Separation.
26.09.170 - Modification of decree for maintenance or support, property disposition—Termination of maintenance obligation and child support—Grounds.

RCW 26.09.170
Modification of decree for maintenance or support, property disposition—Termination of maintenance obligation and child support—Grounds.

(1) Except as otherwise provided in RCW 26.09.070(7), the provisions of any decree respecting maintenance or support may be modified: (a) Only as to installments accruing subsequent to the petition for modification or motion for adjustment except motions to compel court-ordered adjustments, which shall be effective as of the first date specified in the decree for implementing the adjustment; and, (b) except as otherwise provided in this section, only upon a showing of a substantial change of circumstances. The provisions as to property disposition may not be revoked or modified, unless the court finds the existence of conditions that justify the reopening of a judgment under the laws of this state.
(2) Unless otherwise agreed in writing or expressly provided in the decree the obligation to pay future maintenance is terminated upon the death of either party or the remarriage of the party receiving maintenance or registration of a new domestic partnership of the party receiving maintenance.
(3) Unless otherwise agreed in writing or expressly provided in the decree, provisions for the support of a child are terminated by emancipation of the child or by the death of the person required to pay support for the child.
(4) Unless expressly provided by an order of the superior court or a court of comparable jurisdiction, provisions for the support of a child are terminated upon the marriage or registration of a domestic partnership to each other of parties to a paternity or parentage order, or upon the remarriage or registration of a domestic partnership to each other of parties to a decree of dissolution. The remaining provisions of the order, including provisions establishing parentage, remain in effect.
(5)(a) A party to an order of child support may petition for a modification based upon a showing of substantially changed circumstances at any time.
(b) The voluntary unemployment or voluntary underemployment of the person required to pay support, by itself, is not a substantial change of circumstances.
(6) An order of child support may be modified at any time to add language regarding abatement to ten dollars per month per order due to the incarceration of the person required to pay support, as provided in RCW 26.09.320.
(a) The department of social and health services, the person entitled to receive support or the payee under the order, or the person required to pay support may petition for a prospective modification of a child support order if the person required to pay support is currently confined in a jail, prison, or correctional facility for at least six months or is serving a sentence greater than six months in a jail, prison, or correctional facility, and the support order does not contain language regarding abatement due to incarceration.
(b) The petition may only be filed if the person required to pay support is currently incarcerated.
(c) As part of the petition for modification, the petitioner may also request that the support obligation be abated to ten dollars per month per order due to incarceration, as provided in RCW 26.09.320.
(7) An order of child support may be modified without showing a substantial change of circumstances if the requested modification is to modify an existing order when the person required to pay support has been released from incarceration, as provided in RCW 26.09.320(3)(d).
(8) An order of child support may be modified one year or more after it has been entered without a showing of substantially changed circumstances:
(a) If the order in practice works a severe economic hardship on either party or the child;
(b) If a child is still in high school, upon a finding that there is a need to extend support beyond the eighteenth birthday to complete high school; or
(c) To add an automatic adjustment of support provision consistent with RCW 26.09.100.
(9)(a) If twenty-four months have passed from the date of the entry of the order or the last adjustment or modification, whichever is later, the order may be adjusted without a showing of substantially changed circumstances based upon:
(i) Changes in the income of the person required to pay support, or of the payee under the order or the person entitled to receive support who is a parent of the child or children covered by the order; or
(ii) Changes in the economic table or standards in chapter 26.19 RCW.
(b) Either party may initiate the adjustment by filing a motion and child support worksheets.
(c) If the court adjusts or modifies a child support obligation pursuant to this subsection by more than thirty percent and the change would cause significant hardship, the court may implement the change in two equal increments, one at the time of the entry of the order and the second six months from the entry of the order. Twenty-four months must pass following the second change before a motion for another adjustment under this subsection may be filed.
(10)(a) The department of social and health services may file an action to modify or adjust an order of child support if public assistance money is being paid to or for the benefit of the child and the department has determined that the child support order is at least fifteen percent above or below the appropriate child support amount set forth in the standard calculation as defined in RCW 26.19.011.
(b) The department of social and health services may file an action to modify or adjust an order of child support in a nonassistance case if:
(i) The department has determined that the child support order is at least fifteen percent above or below the appropriate child support amount set forth in the standard calculation as defined in RCW 26.19.011;
(ii) The department has determined the case meets the department's review criteria; and
(iii) A party to the order or another state or jurisdiction has requested a review.
(c) If incarceration of the person required to pay support is the basis for the difference between the existing child support order amount and the proposed amount of support determined as a result of a review, the department may file an action to modify or adjust an order of child support even if:
(i) There is no other change of circumstances; and
(ii) The change in support does not meet the fifteen percent threshold.
(d) The determination of whether the child support order is at least fifteen percent above or below the appropriate child support amount must be based on the current income of the parties.
(11) The department of social and health services may file an action to modify or adjust an order of child support under subsections (5) through (9) of this section if:
(a) Public assistance money is being paid to or for the benefit of the child;
(b) A party to the order in a nonassistance case has requested a review; or
(c) Another state or jurisdiction has requested a modification of the order.
(12) If testimony other than affidavit is required in any proceeding under this section, a court of this state shall permit a party or witness to be deposed or to testify under penalty of perjury by telephone, audiovisual means, or other electronic means, unless good cause is shown.

[ 2020 c 227 § 13; 2019 c 275 § 2; 2010 c 279 § 1; 2008 c 6 § 1017; 2002 c 199 § 1; 1997 c 58 § 910; 1992 c 229 § 2; 1991 sp.s. c 28 § 2; 1990 1st ex.s. c 2 § 2; 1989 c 416 § 3; 1988 c 275 § 17; 1987 c 430 § 1; 1973 1st ex.s. c 157 § 17.]
NOTES:

Effective date—2020 c 227 §§ 3-13: See note following RCW 26.09.320.


Findings—Intent—2020 c 227: See note following RCW 26.09.320.


Rule-making authority—2020 c 227: See RCW 26.09.916.


Part headings not law—Severability—2008 c 6: See RCW 26.60.900 and 26.60.901.


Short title—Part headings, captions, table of contents not law—Exemptions and waivers from federal law—Conflict with federal requirements—Severability—1997 c 58: See RCW 74.08A.900 through 74.08A.904.


Severability—Effective date—Captions not law—1991 sp.s. c 28: See notes following RCW 26.09.100.


Effective dates—Severability—1990 1st ex.s. c 2: See notes following RCW 26.09.100.


Effective dates—Severability—1988 c 275: See notes following RCW 26.19.001.


Severability—1987 c 430: "If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected." [ 1987 c 430 § 4.]

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