Also known as: motions to modify · motion for modification
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A post-final-decree request that a court alter the terms of an earlier order. In family law the request succeeds only upon a showing of changed circumstances so substantial and continuing as to render the original terms unconscionable for maintenance or support, or upon affidavits establishing serious endangerment for custody modifications filed before the two-year bar expires.
Miguel Mendoza lost his factory job and his income dropped by half. He filed a motion to modify the maintenance award in the divorce decree that had been entered eight months earlier. The court examined whether the reduction constituted a substantial and continuing change that rendered the original terms unconscionable and limited any adjustment to installments accruing after the motion was filed.
Mina Mehta filed a motion to modify custody fourteen months after the decree awarded primary physical custody to her ex-husband. Her affidavits alleged that the child was regularly left alone overnight during the father's swing shifts. The court reviewed the affidavits to determine whether they supplied reason to believe the child's present environment seriously endangered his physical and emotional health, thereby permitting the motion before the two-year period expired.
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Monica Morgan sought to modify an injunction that had barred a school district from using certain teaching methods. She presented new Supreme Court precedent and updated factual circumstances showing that the original order no longer served its intended purpose. The court considered whether the intervening change in law and facts justified altering the decree.
Melissa Mills moved to modify the child support order after her ex-husband's income increased substantially. She submitted evidence that the original percentage-based award no longer reflected the parties' current financial circumstances. The court evaluated whether the change warranted an adjustment to future payments.
Matthew Martinez filed a motion to modify the conditions of his supervised release after new information emerged about his employment prospects. He argued that the original restrictions prevented him from obtaining stable work. The court assessed whether the changed circumstances justified relaxing the prior order.
Miranda Morales moved to modify a final support ruling after additional evidence came to light that altered the parties' financial circumstances. She contended that the new facts required the court to revisit its earlier order. The court determined whether the intervening developments justified changing the support obligation.
A party may file earlier only if affidavits establish reason to believe the child's present environment may seriously endanger physical, mental, moral, or emotional health. The court screens the affidavits before allowing the motion to proceed to a full hearing on the merits.
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The moving party must demonstrate changed circumstances so substantial and continuing as to make the original terms unconscionable. Modification applies only to installments accruing after the motion is filed.
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The court must deny the motion unless the affidavits credibly allege serious endangerment. Mere assertions of better parenting or changed preferences do not satisfy the threshold.
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…practice, the sole question legitimately presented on appeal of the District Court's decision denying petitioners' Rule 60(b)(5) motion to modify the Aguilar injunction would be: Did the District Court abuse its discretion when it concluded that neither the facts nor the law had so changed as to warrant alteration of the…