Attorney Michael Franklin represented a father of a 4 year old child born out of wedlock who resided here in Massachusetts who was previously ordered to pay child support in the amount of $398.00 per week retroactive to the child’s birth. He was a salesman with an annual income of $125,000 at the time of The Order. The child support arrearage totaled over $70,000.00 with interest and penalties accruing. The client also fathered two older children from a previous marriage who resided out of state. He was required to pay $406.00 per week in child support for those children. In addition, the client fathered a younger child in another state for which he had to pay $232.00 per week in child support. The client lost his employment and obtained new employment with a reduced amount of compensation at $80,000 per year. The mother of the 4 year old child was not employed and was previously allowed to utilize the dependency exemption because she was married. The mother’s husband was getting the tax benefit of the dependency exemption for the child. After trial, The Court reduced the client’s child support obligation to $258.00 per week, terminated interest and penalties from accruing on the child support arrearage and permitted my client to pay it off at $50.00 per week. The client was also permitted to utilize the dependency exemption for the child for income tax purposes. The mother unsuccessfully argued there was no change in circumstances that justified a reduction in child support.