Changing or Enforcing an Order After the Divorce

A judgment of divorce is not the end of the court's involvement. Children grow, jobs change, people move, and some people do not pay. This page explains when an order can be changed, when it cannot, and what to do when the other side will not comply.

Modifying custody or parenting time

The standard is a change in circumstances since the order was entered such that modification is in the child's best interests. The change has to be real. A parent's relocation, a child's changed needs, a parent's new partner in the home, substance abuse or recovery, a parent's interference with the other parent's time, or a child's expressed wish as the child matures are the usual grounds. A parent seeking modification must make an evidentiary showing sufficient to warrant a hearing, and the court cannot deny a petition that makes that showing without holding one. In May 2025, the Second Department reversed a dismissal and ordered a hearing where a father showed seven years of sobriety and evidence that the mother was alienating the children.

Where the existing order was entered on consent, courts give it weight but do not require extraordinary circumstances to change it. The Court of Appeals settled that in Friederwitzer v. Friederwitzer.

Modifying child support

There are three routes. First, a substantial change in circumstances, which is the traditional standard. Second, the passage of three years since the order was entered, last modified, or last adjusted. Third, a change in either party's gross income of fifteen percent or more since the order was entered or last modified. The second and third routes are available unless the parties specifically opted out of them in a written agreement, and many agreements do opt out. A reduction in income counts only if it was involuntary and the party has made diligent efforts to find employment commensurate with their qualifications.

A parent who loses a job and waits a year to file has lost a year of relief, because modification is retroactive only to the date the petition was filed. File first, then negotiate.

Modifying maintenance

Maintenance set by the court can be modified on a substantial change in circumstances. Maintenance set by agreement is harder. Where the parties agreed to an amount and duration, the court will generally hold them to it unless the agreement itself allows modification or the payee is in danger of becoming a public charge. This is one reason the terms of a settlement agreement deserve more attention than they usually get.

Enforcing support

New York gives a support creditor a set of tools that do not require a contempt finding. Income execution through the Support Collection Unit takes the support directly from the payor's wages. A money judgment can be entered for arrears with interest, and the court has no discretion to reduce arrears that accrued before a modification petition was filed. Driver's licenses, professional licenses, and business licenses can be suspended for arrears equal to four months of support. Passports can be denied. Tax refunds can be intercepted. Liens can be filed.

Contempt is the last tool and the most serious. A party who willfully disobeys a court order can be fined and jailed. In December 2025, the Second Department affirmed a civil contempt finding against a father who stopped paying support and maintenance under a stipulation and tried to defend by attacking the stipulation's missing statutory recitals. The court held that the collateral attack was no defense to contempt. The lesson is that an order has to be obeyed until it is changed, and the way to change it is to file.

Enforcing custody and parenting time

A parent who is denied court-ordered parenting time can file a violation petition in Family Court. The remedies include make-up time, modification of the order, a fine, counsel fees, and, in cases of willful and repeated violations, a change of custody. Courts treat a parent's interference with the other parent's relationship as evidence bearing on fitness, and the recent alienation decisions in the custody section show how far that can go. Document every missed exchange with a message sent at the time, and do not retaliate by withholding your own time.

Enforcing the property division

A spouse who does not sign the deed, does not pay the distributive award, or does not cooperate with the qualified domestic relations order can be compelled by motion in the Supreme Court that issued the judgment. The court can direct the County Clerk or a referee to sign in the defaulting party's place, can enter a money judgment, and can award counsel fees for the enforcement application under DRL 238.

Counsel fees

DRL 237 and 238 authorize counsel fees in modification and enforcement proceedings, and a party who is forced to go to court to enforce an order should ask for them. In a 2026 Orange County case, the court declined to award fees for the fee hearing itself under the parties' agreement but awarded them under the statute in its discretion. Fee requests require the attorney's affidavit and the billing records, and a 2026 Westchester decision denied a 200,000 dollar interim fee request because the billing records were so heavily redacted that the court could not evaluate them. Keep the records clean.

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