Clinton County judge orders child support increase after income review

Presiding Judge heard evidence on a request to modify child support in Amy Fuller v. Emmanuel Heizer and ordered the change based on the county child-support worksheet.

The court heard testimony from Stephanie Witham, a caseworker with Clinton County Child Support, who said the office ran Heizer’s employer-provided income through the state guidelines. “According to the guidelines, he would be increased to $603 per month,” Witham testified, referring to the child-support computation for one child.

The new calculation replaces the prior monthly support amount of $325. Witham told the court the increase reflected verified wage data from Heizer’s employer, D and D Enterprises, and that the office’s calculation assumed a 40-hour work week and excluded overtime.

The judge asked whether Heizer had been given an opportunity to review the worksheet; Heizer confirmed he had. The judge noted the child is in early adolescence and said time-share adjustments that might reduce support were unlikely given the child’s age. The judge also confirmed that the increase would be prospective — the parties did not request retroactive payments for the period before the order.

The court said it would enter an order reflecting the guideline worksheet as presented by the child-support office.

The docket also included several other child-support matters with agreed payment arrangements and arrearage schedules; the Fuller v. Heizer modification was the only contested computation presented with live testimony.

Court action: the judge ordered an increase in the monthly child-support obligation to $603 per month as calculated under the Kentucky child-support guidelines; the order is to be entered based on the worksheet presented by Clinton County Child Support.

The caseworker remained available for further inquiry by the parties and the court instructed counsel to return if either party believed the worksheet contained factual errors.