How to modify child support or spousal support in Michigan

Sources last checked 3 November 2026. Information only, not legal advice. The Cusp is not a law firm.

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The short version

In Michigan, child support and spousal support are both changed by court order, but the routes differ. For child support in a Friend of the Court case, you can ask the Friend of the Court office in writing to review the order, or you can file a motion. The court’s form for the motion is FOC 50, Motion Regarding Support (Rev. 6/19). For spousal support, the statute lets either party petition the court to change the judgment (see section 552.28 below). We did not find a separate official form for a spousal support change (see “What we could not confirm” below).

What you can ask for

Child support, by review: either party can send the Friend of the Court office a written request for a review. The office then calculates support with the state formula and sends both sides a notice. If neither side objects, an order goes to the court for approval (details below).
Child support, by motion: a party may file a motion to modify support. The court “may only modify a child support order upon finding a substantial change in circumstances”.
Spousal support: after a judgment for alimony, either party may petition, and the court may change “the amount or payment of the alimony or allowance”. The statute does not state a test for that change, and we did not read the case law (see “What we could not confirm”).
Agreed changes: a court-approved agreement between the parties can retroactively modify a support order, and an agreed child support order may depart from the formula if the court records the reasons (details below).

What you file

The list below is from the State Court Administrative Office index of Friend of the Court forms. Revision dates are as the index showed them on 3 November 2026.

Motion Regarding Support (FOC 50, Rev. 6/19), with its instructions (INST FOC 50, Rev. 6/19). The instructions say to use the form if you already have support orders and “you want the court to change support”.
Response to Motion Regarding Support (FOC 51, Rev. 6/17), which the form says the person receiving the motion may file.
Uniform Child Support Order (FOC 10, Rev. 11/25) and, where there are no Friend of the Court services, FOC 10a (Rev. 11/25). Instructions for both are FOC 52 (Rev. 8/25). The FOC 50 instructions tell you to bring the order form to the hearing.
Uniform Spousal Support Order (FOC 10b, Rev. 7/22) and, with no Friend of the Court services, FOC 10c (Rev. 7/22).
Notice of Child Support Review (FOC 71, Rev. 3/15) and Objection to Child-Support Review (FOC 79, Rev. 3/09). These are the forms for the review route. The index does not label which one the office sends and which one a party files, so ask your Friend of the Court office.
Objection to Referee’s Recommended Order (FOC 68, Rev. 3/21), if a referee hears your motion and you disagree.
Affidavit and Order, Suspension of Fees/Costs (form MC 20), which the FOC 50 instructions name for someone who cannot afford the fee. The instructions do not include it, and we did not read its revision date.
Custody and parenting time: these are separate motions, FOC 87 for custody (Rev. 6/18) and FOC 65 for parenting time (Rev. 6/17). Form FOC 87 is not a support motion.

What the statutes say

Wording below is a plain-language summary of Michigan Compiled Laws as we read them on 3 November 2026, with short quotations.

Child support judgments, section 552.17(1): after a judgment of annulment, divorce or separate maintenance, on a parent’s petition the court “may revise and alter a judgment concerning the care, custody, maintenance, and support” of some or all of the children, “as the circumstances of the parents and the benefit of the children require”. Subsection (2) says child support orders are governed by the Support and Parenting Time Enforcement Act, 1982 PA 295.
Review on request, section 552.517(1)(b): the Friend of the Court office reviews a child support order “Upon receipt of a written request from either party”. “Within 14 days after receipt of the review request” it decides whether the order is due for review. It is not required to act on “more than 1 request received from a party every 36 months”.
Other reasons for a review, sections 552.517(1)(e) and (f): a review can also happen at the direction of the court, or on the office’s own initiative if it has reasonable grounds. The listed grounds include changes in custody the court has not ordered, a change in the child’s need, a change in health care coverage or its cost, changed financial conditions, and an order based on incorrect facts.
Timing and result, section 552.517(3), (5), (6), (7): “Within 180 days after determining that a review is required” the office “must obtain a modification of the order if appropriate”. It must petition the court unless the difference between the old and projected amounts is below the formula’s threshold, or the court earlier found the formula unjust or inappropriate and the reasons for that deviation are unchanged. Its notice “constitutes a petition for modification of the support order”. If it finds no change is needed and a party objects in writing within 21 days of that notice, the office must schedule a court hearing.
How a review runs, section 552.517b(2) to (4): the office sends a notice asking for information. Once that information is due, but “not sooner than 21 days or later than 120 days” after the notice was sent, it calculates support under the formula and sends each party a notice with the amount and a proposed effective date. The notice says “Either party may object to the recommended support amount.” If “no objection is filed within 21 days”, an order is prepared for the court. If there is an objection, the matter is set for a hearing before a judge or referee, or the office may recalculate on new information.
Missing information, section 552.517b(6)(b): the office “may impute income to a party who fails or refuses to provide information” it asks for.
No change-in-circumstances proof on review, section 552.517b(7): the court “shall not require proof of a substantial change in circumstances” when support is adjusted under section 17(1) of the Friend of the Court Act, which is the review route above.
Motion route, section 552.517b(8): “A party may also file a motion to modify support.” The court “may only modify a child support order upon finding a substantial change in circumstances”. The subsection says this includes health care coverage becoming newly available to a party.
More frequent review, section 552.517b(9): the office must conduct “a more frequent review of the support order” when a party presents evidence of a substantial change in circumstances as set out in the formula guidelines.
The formula, section 552.605(2) and (3): the court orders child support in an amount “determined by application of the child support formula”. It may depart from the formula only if the formula would be “unjust or inappropriate” and it records the formula amount, how the order deviates and why. An agreed order may deviate if the same requirements are met.
Back-dating, section 552.603(2) and (5): a support order that is part of a judgment is “not, on and after the date it is due, subject to retroactive modification”. The exception is a period when a petition is pending, “only from the date that notice of the petition was given”. Section 552.603(5) says the section does not bar a “court approved agreement between the parties to retroactively modify a support order”.
Spousal support, section 552.28: “On petition of either party” after a judgment for alimony, “subject to section 17”, the court “may revise and alter” the judgment “respecting the amount or payment of the alimony or allowance” and may make any judgment respecting “the matters that the court might have made in the original action”.

Notice, service and hearing

The steps below are from the State Court Administrative Office instructions for FOC 50 (Rev. 6/19), which are written for a motion regarding support. They are not written for the review route.

Before you file: the instructions say to contact the Friend of the Court office to find out whom to contact about getting a hearing date, and to fill in the notice of hearing with it.
Where to file: with the county clerk in the county where your case is located. The instructions say to take the original and five copies.
Service: the other party must be served with the motion and hearing date “at least 9 days before the hearing date”. The instructions say “Serve the papers by mailing them to the other party by first-class mail”, then complete the certificate of mailing and return two copies to the clerk.
Response: the other side may file a response on form FOC 51.
At the hearing: the instructions say to bring the original and five copies of the order form (FOC 10 or 10a with its instructions) and your supporting papers, such as proof of income.
Formula: the instructions note the court must use the Child Support Formula unless it finds using it would be unjust or inappropriate.
If a referee hears it: “you have 21 days from the date of mailing of the referee’s recommendation” to object and ask for a new hearing before the judge, using FOC 68.
The formula: the Friend of the Court Bureau says the law “requires courts to use this formula when setting or changing child support obligations”. The 2025 Michigan Child Support Formula became effective 1 January 2025.

Before you file

Court staff cannot give legal advice. See legal aid in Michigan for free or low-cost help, or the Michigan divorce kit for the wider process.
Two official sources state different fee figures. The FOC 50 instructions say “You must pay a $60.00 fee at the time of filing”. The circuit court fee statute, section 600.2529(1), lists “on filing a motion, the moving party shall pay a fee of $20.00” and, in an action where “the support of a minor child is to be determined or modified, $40.00”. We could not tell which applies to your motion, so ask the clerk of your county. If you cannot pay, the instructions name form MC 20.
Child support amounts follow the state formula. See how child support is calculated in Michigan and alimony in Michigan.
The motion form is dated Rev. 6/19. Check that you have the current version before you file.

What we could not confirm

A form for changing spousal support. The Friend of the Court forms index lists a Uniform Spousal Support Order (FOC 10b) but no separate motion for spousal support. The FOC 50 instructions speak of support in cases for divorce, separate maintenance, paternity or family support. We did not confirm whether FOC 50 can be used for spousal support alone, so ask your Friend of the Court office or the county clerk.
The test for changing spousal support. Section 552.28 says the court “may revise and alter” the judgment. It states no standard, and we did not read the court decisions that apply one.
Filing fees. The two official figures above differ and we did not see how they fit together. The form instructions are dated 2019, and we did not check when the statute’s amounts were last changed. We did not find the fee for a spousal support motion.
A request-for-review form. The index lists the review notice and objection forms (FOC 71 and FOC 79) but we found no form for a party to ask for a review. Ask your Friend of the Court office how it takes written requests.
Formula details. We did not read the text of the 2025 formula manual, including the threshold for a change, or any formula update issued after the 2025 manual.
Whether back-dating limits cover spousal support. Section 552.603 refers to a “support order”. We did not read the act’s definitions to see whether spousal support is included.
Cases without Friend of the Court services. The review route in sections 552.517 and 552.517b is written for Friend of the Court cases. We did not read the rules for cases exempted from those services.
Court rules and local practice. We did not read the Michigan Court Rules on motions or service, the Friend of the Court Bureau memoranda, or any county’s local procedures. The FOC 50 instructions are dated 2019, so steps and copy counts may have changed.

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