Arrears reduced from $18,400 to $12,000 — a buy-down the court entered as a modified order.

Anonymized client (Cobb County Case #2024-DR-01872). A growing arrears balance was blocking the obligor's recovery and prolonging the dispute. We renegotiated the figure with structured documentation and got the court to enter a reduced total with a workable repayment plan.

Arrears resolution — full case breakdown

Anonymized client

Marietta, GA • Anonymized client • Non-custodial parent

Cobb County Case #2024-DR-01872. The arrears figure hadn't been updated in 18 months and included periods where the obligor's actual income had been below the order's implied threshold. We built the documentation, presented a structured buy-down, and got a clean total entered into the modified order.

Before

The challenge

Stated arrears balance: $18,400, with no recalculation since the original calculation date
Obligor's actual earnings during three of those months were below the implied threshold in the order
Active income-withholding order was intercepting nearly 65% of post-tax paychecks
Custodial parent had signaled openness to a renegotiated figure if it came with a realistic repayment plan
Existing order did not carve out any credit for documented unemployment periods during the arrears window

Approach

The work we did

Reconstructed 18 months of obligor earnings using W-2s, paystubs, and unemployment documentation
Calculated a counter-figure that applied the actual earnings during low-income periods to the arrears total
Built a proposed buy-down schedule with monthly payment amounts that fit within the obligor's current cash flow
Drafted a written renegotiation summary for both parties' attorneys — frame the proposal around the documentation, not the narrative
Coordinated with obligor's attorney to file a stipulated motion for the modified order so the court could enter the new figure without a contested hearing
Prepared Georgia child support worksheets supporting both the reduced arrears and the new ongoing obligation

Result

What happened

$18,400

→

$12,000

Arrears balance after buy-down

Arrears total reduced by 35% — entered as a modified order rather than a private settlement
Repayment plan structured around the obligor's current income, with the income-withholding order adjusted accordingly
Total process from engagement to entered modified order: 120 days
Both parties' attorneys stipulated to the new figure, avoiding a contested hearing

See what this process looks like for your situation.

This case hinged on reconstructing 18 months of earnings and presenting a buy-down the court could enter without re-litigating the original calculation. Every dispute has its own shape — the framework for getting the court a clean record is the same.

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