§311. Modification or suspension of support; material change in circumstances; periodic review by Department of Children and Family Services; medical support

            A.(1) An award for support shall not be modified unless the party seeking the modification shows a material change in circumstances of one of the parties between the time of the previous award and the time of the rule for modification of the award. The material change in circumstances must be substantial and continuing since the last award for support.

            (2) The Department of Children and Family Services shall prepare and distribute information, forms, and rules for the modification or suspension of support orders, in accordance with this Subsection, and for proceeding in forma pauperis. The information provided by the Department of Children and Family Services shall specifically include what may constitute a material change in circumstances. The clerks of court in all parishes shall make this information available to the public upon request. This information shall also be distributed by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections or the sheriff of any parish, as appropriate, to every person incarcerated in every state and parish jail and prison facility. When the initial support order is entered, either the court or the department, if providing services, shall provide this information to the parties.

            B. A judgment for past due support shall not of itself constitute a material change in circumstances of the obligor sufficient to reduce an existing award of support.

            C. For purposes of this Section, in cases where the Department of Children and Family Services is providing support enforcement services:

            (1) There shall be a rebuttable presumption that a material change in circumstances exists when a strict application of the child support guidelines, Part I-A of this Chapter, would result in at least a twenty-five percent change in the existing child support award. A material change in circumstances does not exist under this Paragraph if the amount of the award was the result of the court's deviating from the guidelines pursuant to R.S. 9:315.1 and there has not been a material change in the circumstances which warranted the deviation.

            (2) A court has discretion and authority to modify a child support obligation even when there is not a twenty-five percent variation between the current obligation and the guidelines when a party has proven a material change in circumstances that is substantial and continuing. Likewise, a trial court has discretion to deny a modification even when the twenty-five percent variation is present, based on a finding that applying the guidelines would not be in the best interest of the child or would be inequitable to the parties.

            (3)(a) The department shall request a judicial review under any of the following conditions:

            (i) If the best interest of the child so requires, the department shall request a judicial review upon request of either party or on the department's own initiative. If appropriate, the court may modify the amount of the existing child support award every three years if the existing award differs from the amount which would otherwise be awarded under the application of the child support guidelines.

            (ii) Upon the request of either party or on the department's own initiative after an obligor's incarceration ends when the child support award has been suspended under R.S. 9:311.1. For the purpose of this Section, "incarceration" shall have the same meaning as provided in R.S. 9:311.1.

            (iii) Upon the request of either party or on the department's own initiative upon the incarceration of any party.

            (b) A material change in circumstances shall not be required for the purpose of this Paragraph.

            D. A material change in circumstance need not be shown for either of the following purposes:

            (1) To modify a child support award to include a court-ordered award for medical support.

            (2) To suspend or modify a child support award in accordance with R.S. 9:311.1.

            E. If the court does not find good cause sufficient to justify an order to modify child support or the motion is dismissed prior to a hearing, it may order the mover to pay all court costs and reasonable attorney fees of the other party if the court determines the motion was frivolous.

            F. The provisions of Subsection E of this Section shall not apply when the mover is a public entity providing support enforcement services as defined by R.S. 46:236.1.1.

            G. Repealed by Acts 2017, No. 264, §5, eff. Aug. 1, 2020.

            Acts 1985, No. 41, §1; Acts 1993, No. 478, §1; Acts 1997, No. 1245, §1, eff. July 1, 1997; Acts 2001, No. 1082, §1; Acts 2008, No. 886, §1; Acts 2010, No. 913, §3; Acts 2017, No. 264, §§2, 5, eff. Jan. 1, 2019; Acts 2018, No. 136, §1, eff. May 11, 2018; Acts 2018, No. 379, §1, eff. May 20, 2018; Acts 2019, No. 277, §2; Acts 2021, No. 339, §1.