my child support payments dropped from 1200 a month to 400 a month no change in employment. how can this happen

Hello, Anonymous. There are a couple possibilities here. First is that it is a simple clerical error. Second is that a date which was set by the existing support order passed which changed the terms or amounts of the support order. This generally happens when a child is emancipated or some other event happens which triggers a change to occur automatically. Third is that a new support order was entered and you did not appear in court to represent your side in it to know about it. A change can occur if there was a change in circumstances. This does not necessarily have to include a change in employment. It can be a medical condition or some other life event that several affects the party's ability to pay child support and survive on his/her current income. Other than these basic possibilities, I cannot tell you much more without further information.