Global Support Order

I keep having this issue come up so I thought it is time to write a little something about it.  Many times a court does what is commonly called a global support order for kids (i.e. $500.00 per month total for three kids with no set amount per child).  There appears to be a common misconception that when one child is emancipated, this reduces the support amount.  That is not the case.

If the order has a set amount per child, the parent can safely reduce the support amount once a child is emancipation by the set amount in the order.  (i.e. $100.00 per child with three kids, one child emancipated, support reduces to $200.00 automatically).  Ligon v. Ligon, 743 So.2d 404, 408 (Miss. Ct. App. 1999). If the order is global, a court order is needed.  Evans v. Evans, 994 so.2d 765, 769-70 (Miss. 2008).  On the global order, there is some authority floating around allowing a court ordered credit and there is authority that reaches the opposite conclusion.  That is why it is best to get a court order to avoid possible contempt issues.