How to modify child support in New Jersey
Sources last checked 2 November 2026. Information only, not legal advice.
The short version
In New Jersey you cannot change a support order just by agreeing to pay a different amount. You ask the Family Part of the Superior Court, and the court will change an order only if important facts or circumstances have changed since the order was issued. The court’s own packet defines a substantial change as a significant change in your situation. If your case has an FM docket number (divorce, civil union, domestic partnership), start with the court’s packet CN 10483, How to Ask the Court to Change or Enforce an Order in Your Case. Cases with an FD number use CN 11492 instead.
What you file
- Notice of Motion (Form A): what you want changed and the hearing date.
- Certification in Support of Motion (Form B): the specific facts, signed and dated, with exhibits attached.
- Proposed Order (Form C). To set, raise or lower child support, the packet says to use the Uniform Summary Support Order (CN 10284) instead.
- Certification of Filing and Service (Form D) and Notice to Litigants (Form E). Leaving out Form E may get the motion dismissed.
- Statement for the Probation Division (Form F), only if support is paid through Probation.
- Confidential Litigant Information Sheet (CN 10486) and a Case Information Statement (CN 10482). For money motions, attach your last CIS and a new, current one.
Proof to attach
Copies of every earlier order, numbered as exhibits, plus proof of income such as pay stubs or tax returns. Court papers are public, so leave out Social Security, license and account numbers except where the forms require them. Child support amounts follow Court Rule 5:6A.
Where to file, cost and timing
- Where: electronically through the Judiciary Electronic Document Submission (JEDS) system, or by mail to the Family Court that issued the order or last heard the case.
- Fee: $50 by check or money order payable to Treasurer, State of New Jersey (FM cases). Do not send cash.
- Hearing date: pick a Friday on njcourts.gov. The other side must receive your papers at least 24 calendar days before the hearing, or you must mail them at least 27 days before.
- Responses: the other side’s response is due 15 days before the return date and your reply 8 days before. Add three days for mailed papers.
- Serving the papers: certified and regular mail with return receipt, a process server, courier or neutral adult with a notarized affidavit, or personal delivery with a notarized acknowledgment (Form H). Serve the lawyer if the other side has one.
Changing alimony instead
The same packet and motion process applies to alimony. For the rules on loss of income, retirement and cohabitation, see our New Jersey alimony guide.
Before you file
- Court staff cannot give legal advice or change an order. The packet recommends a lawyer if you can get one, through legal services or a county bar referral service. See legal aid in New Jersey.
- Appeals run on a different clock (45 days, CN 10837). Asking the court to reconsider a recent order must happen within 20 days.
- The packet is not for cases where you only want support paid through Probation. Contact the Family Division for that.
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