To modify a Pennsylvania child support order, you file a Petition for Modification with the Domestic Relations Section (DRS) in the county that issued your current order. There is no filing fee. The petition is a short form defined under Pennsylvania Rule of Civil Procedure 1910.27(f), and you can submit it online through the Pennsylvania Child Support Program’s e-Services portal or in person at the DRS counter. Once the office accepts it, a support conference is scheduled where a conference officer recalculates support using both parents’ current finances.
When You Can Ask for a Modification
Rule 1910.19 requires a “material and substantial change in circumstances” before the court will adjust an existing order. The standard is deliberately high. A modest raise or one tight month will not qualify; the change must be real, lasting, and verifiable.
Situations that typically meet the threshold include:
- Involuntary job loss or a significant income drop, such as a layoff, plant closure, or documented disability that permanently reduces earning capacity.
- A substantial income increase, such as a major promotion, new job, or business income that significantly raises one parent’s earnings.
- A custody schedule change in which the child begins spending significantly more or fewer overnights with one parent.
- Revised statewide support guidelines that produce a materially different calculated amount. Rule 1910.19 recognizes this on its own as a change in circumstances, even if neither parent’s finances shifted.
- Additional income or assets discovered through automated matching or other means that were not reflected in the original order.
- Emancipation, when a child turns 18 and graduates from high school (whichever is later), ending the obligation for that child.
Separately, either party can request a review of the order every three years from the date of the last order, regardless of whether circumstances changed. That gives you a path to recalculation even when you cannot point to a single dramatic event.
Filling Out the Petition Form
The Rule 1910.27(f) petition is simpler than most people expect. It is not a detailed financial questionnaire; that part comes later. The form itself asks for four things:
- Original order information. The date the existing support order was entered and the names of the dependents it covers. Attach a copy of the current order to the petition.
- Relief sought. State whether you want an increase, decrease, modification, termination, or suspension of the order.
- Change in circumstances. Describe the material and substantial changes that justify your request. Be specific. Include dates, dollar amounts, and concrete facts. A petition that says “I was laid off from my position at [employer] on March 15, 2026, reducing my monthly gross income from $5,200 to $0” is far stronger than one that says “I lost my job.”
- Verification. Sign the verification at the bottom, which confirms that everything in the petition is true and correct under penalty of 18 Pa.C.S. § 4904 (unsworn falsification to authorities). A conviction under that statute carries a minimum $1,000 fine, so accuracy matters.
How and Where to File
You have two options. If you file online through e-Services, the portal walks you through a questionnaire that populates the petition for you. You will need your PACSES case number, the nine-digit number assigned to your support case. After completing the questionnaire, submit the petition electronically to your county DRS. Note that submitting online does not mean the petition is officially filed; it is not filed until the DRS reviews and accepts it. Pennsylvania law requires you to print, sign, and keep a hard copy of any form you submit electronically for at least two years.
If you do not have computer access, complete and file the petition in person at your county Domestic Relations office.
There is no filing fee either way. Rule 1910.4(c) is explicit: “The domestic relations section shall not require payment of a filing fee to commence or modify an action.” Any county that tries to charge one is violating the rule.
File promptly. A modification, if approved, can be made retroactive to the date you filed the petition. Waiting months to file means losing months of potential adjustment.
What Happens After You File
Once the DRS accepts your signed petition, it schedules a modification conference and sends both parties a packet requesting updated financial information. If attorneys are on file, they are notified too. The DRS also subpoenas income records from any employers listed in the case. Filing a petition does not guarantee the order will change the way you want; it starts the review.
Rule 1910.11(c) lists what both parties must bring to the conference. Start gathering these as soon as you file:
- Your most recently filed federal income tax return, including all schedules, W-2s, and 1099s. If you are self-employed or a principal in a partnership or business entity, bring the business returns with all schedules, including the K-1.
- Pay stubs covering the preceding six months of employment.
- Verification of any child care expenses.
- Proof of health insurance coverage you have or have available through your employer.
- Any existing child support, spousal support, alimony pendente lite, or alimony orders or agreements for other children or former spouses.
- The Income Statement form from Rule 1910.27(c)(1), which is required in every support case.
- An Expense Statement, but only if you claim unusual needs and unusual fixed expenses that might justify deviating from the guideline amount, or if the parents’ combined monthly net income exceeds $15,000 (a high-income case).
The conference itself is informal and led by a conference officer, not a judge. Both parents attend and present their financial documents. The officer applies Pennsylvania’s support guidelines, which use an Income Shares Model based on the idea that a child should receive the same proportion of parental income they would have received if the parents lived together. For combined monthly net income up to $15,000, the officer uses the basic schedule in Rule 1910.16-3. Above $15,000, the case is decided under a different high-income framework that requires a full Expense Statement from both sides.
If both parents accept the officer’s calculated amount, the agreement is written up and becomes a final court order once a judge signs it. Many modifications wrap up at this stage.
If You Disagree With the Conference Result
Disagreements trigger a more formal process under Rule 1910.12. If the parties do not reach an agreement, the court enters an interim order based on the guidelines. That interim order takes effect immediately, so support continues flowing or adjusts while the dispute moves through the system. If a party was properly served but failed to attend the conference, the court can still enter an interim order.
Within 20 days of receiving the interim order, either party can demand a hearing before a hearing officer. If no one requests a hearing in that window, the interim order becomes final.
The hearing is a formal proceeding before a hearing officer who must be a lawyer. Both sides present evidence and testimony. The officer has 20 days after the record closes to file a report recommending a specific support amount. The court then enters a new interim order consistent with that recommendation, and both parties receive a copy.
From the date you receive the hearing officer’s report, you have 20 days to file written exceptions. If the other party files exceptions, you get an additional 20 days to file cross-exceptions. The court hears argument on exceptions and enters a final order within 60 days. If nobody files exceptions, the interim order based on the recommendation becomes the final order.
Each of these 20-day windows is firm. Missing one means accepting whatever order is in place.
If the Other Parent Lives in Another State
The Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, adopted in Pennsylvania at 23 Pa.C.S. § 7205, controls which state can modify an order when the parents live apart. The state that issued the current controlling order keeps exclusive jurisdiction to modify it as long as at least one party (the obligor, the obligee, or the child) still lives there. So if Pennsylvania issued your order and you still live here, you file your modification petition in Pennsylvania even if the other parent has moved away.
Pennsylvania loses that exclusive jurisdiction only when all parties and the child have left the state, or when both parents consent in writing to let another state’s court take over.
If you live in Pennsylvania but the controlling order was issued by another state where the other parent still resides, you cannot modify the order here. Pennsylvania can, however, act as an “initiating tribunal”: your county DRS can help forward your modification request to the other state’s court for processing.
If You Are on Active Military Duty
Active-duty service members involved in a modification proceeding can request a stay under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, 50 U.S.C. § 3932. If military duties prevent you from appearing, the court must grant a stay of at least 90 days when you provide:
- A letter explaining how your current military duties materially affect your ability to appear, with a date when you expect to be available.
- A letter from your commanding officer confirming that your duties prevent appearance and that military leave is not authorized at the time.
You can request additional stays if duties continue to interfere. If the court denies an additional stay, it must appoint counsel to represent you. Filing a stay request does not waive any defenses, including objections to personal jurisdiction. The SCRA covers any civil action or proceeding while you are on active duty or within 90 days of separation, and a child support modification conference qualifies.