Custody / Child Support

Medford Child Custody Lawyer
Protecting Children’s Rights in Custody and Support Cases

Whether you were married when your children were born, or had children outside of marriage, your children have the same needs and rights. At the Law Office of Kevin P. O’Malley, our Medford child custody lawyers work hard to ensure that children’s needs are met through financial support and appropriate involvement with both of their parents and health insurance coverage.

Child Custody
This is typically the most contentious area of a divorce. Child custody and parenting time (or visitation) decisions are made at the same time. Please see our section on Parenting Rights and Visitation to learn more about how these decisions are made and how the Medford child custody lawyers at the Law Office of Kevin P. O’Malley can help you.

Child Support
The parent who has custody of the child most of the time will usually receive child support. The amount of child support a parent pays or receives is based largely upon a predetermined calculation, but there are circumstances under which this calculation can be adjusted upward or downward. Contact our Medford child custody lawyers to ask how the child support calculations might apply in your case.

Modifications to Court Orders
Situations change, incomes increase and decrease, children choose for themselves who they will live with and when. Court orders developed when children were young may need to be changed to fit the new situation. The Boston support modification attorneys at the Law Office of Kevin P. O’Malley help parents take their case back to court for child support and child custody modifications.

It is not uncommon to find that a father’s income increases faster after a divorce than the income of a custodial mother whose energy is directed at raising children. If you are wondering if it’s worth it taking the child support case back to court, in many cases it is. Talk to our lawyers to ask about child support modification.

Are you unable to pay your child support due to a loss in income or increase in expenses? Don’t Just Stop Your Child Support Payments! Falling behind in child support could lead to the loss of your drivers license or the loss of state licensures for your work. Take your case back to court to get a modification of your support order. Contact the Law Office of Kevin P. O’Malley for assistance.

Collection of Child Support
There are often costs associated with raising a child that were not clearly spelled out in the initial decree—such as college costs—or extra costs that must be settled up on a regular basis, such as medical or dental costs. We can help you take your case to Family Court to receive payment for these costs.

In the case of college costs, if your original decree stated that the parent would “contribute to the best of his/her ability,” we will try to show what that ability is so that your child can receive support and college assistance up to age 23 (if enrolled full-time in a post-secondary program).

If your ex-spouse has fallen behind in child support payments, we work quickly to secure a Contempt of Support Order so that you can garnish wages or secure assets to meet the child support obligation.