MCCRACKEN COUNTY, KY - Deadbeat dads are one thing, but in today's economy, some parents are just struggling to keep up with child support payments that used to be routine.  Family courts are reporting a surge in cases of child support modification requests.

A judge will look for a past routine of holding a job and a pattern of making regular payments.  If a parent's circumstances change suddenly, their request has a better chance of seeming to be in good faith, but it's something that is becoming a far more common call to make.

John Riggi didn't want to ask for a reduction in his child support payments, but after he lost his job, he saw little choice.  "I want to see them happy and have the things that they deserve and need, but in the same sense, I couldn't still pay that amount and keep my head above water," Riggi said.

In a separate case, Michelle Sharp says the weak economy made her ask for an increase in child support payments for her daughter.  "It was difficult.  I felt weird even asking for an increase because I know how tough the economy is and I knew that he would probably be experiencing the same problems that we were," Sharp said.

McCracken County Family Court Judge Cynthia Sanderson is one of the people who has to decide whether a change in a child support agreement is appropriate, and she's seeing a lot more requests lately.  "It gets kind of complicated because the folks that have never wanted to support their children are getting the benefit of the bad economy," Sanderson said.

Nonetheless, Judge Sanderson believes most parents want to make their child support payments, and she's seeing a dramatic rise in what she considers legitimate needs to reduce payments because of a loss of income.  In John Riggi's case, he says his new agreement is only meant to be temporary.  "I'll get back on my feet and get back to where I need to be.  It'll be back, hopefully with the economy getting a little better, everything will be back to the way it was," Riggi said.

In the meantime, he urges others in his situation to keep the relationship between the parents as positive as possible, if only for the sake of the children.  Some attorneys report cases in which one parent will offer to take custody of a child instead of paying child support.  They stress custody and child support are two very separate issues and should not be considered interchangeable.