I met a client a  few weeks ago that makes a nice income even though it is a 1/3 of what it use to be.  It was a fairly routine motion so I charged him a rather minimal retainer as I didn’t see the case getting out of hand.  If we won, he could save $40,000 over the next four years.  Worst case scenario, he would be out $5,000 in legal fees and that is really worst case. 

He wanted me to give him an exact prediction.  Unfortunately, our judicial system does not allow that.  Just because you should win, doesn’t mean you will.  Luckily, the system works most of the time.  You are rolling the dice with every motion you file for child support.  I just had a case where we were asking for an increase and the court decreased it even though the other party wasn’t requesting one!  Thankfully, I was able to withdraw that request and the child support remained the same.

So, when you speak to a New Jersey child support lawyer, understand that the best he or she may be able to tell you is how much of a risk you are taking.  If you have a really good chance of saving up to $40,000 and you will most likely spend less than $5000 (probably even less than $2500) to roll the dice, that may be a great bet!