양육비 감액과 자의 복리 ―대법원 2019. 1. 13.자 2018스566 결정―

The Supreme Court has made an important ruling on the child support modification case where an obligor requests reduction of child support. This ruling differs from the precedents in that the Supreme Court presented legal principle on whether it is possible to reduce child support due to the decrease of the obligor’s income once child support has been ordered by the court. In this article, the writer examines the changes in the regulation regarding modification of child support and considers in what cases and under what criteria the modification in child support should be allowed. The Supreme Court does not say that modification in child support is allowed only when there are substantial changes in circumstances. However the reduction in child support should be limited to being allowed only when there are special changes in circumstances, while the increase in child support can be widely accepted. Whether there are any special circumstances in which child support changes are permitted should be judged based on the best interests of the child.