CHILD SUPPORT

Each parent has a responsibility to support his/her child(ren) in accordance with their needs and your financial abilities. Child support may be by direct payment, such as cash or check, or by indirect benefits, such as mortgages payments and insurance. Ordinarily the obligation to support a child ends when that child reaches eighteen, marries, graduates high school, or becomes emancipated. However, child support may continue beyond the child's eighteenth birthday if the child is still in high school after turning eighteen and has a reasonable likelihood of graduating by age nineteen.  In that event, child support continues until the child graduates, but child support does not continue beyond the child's nineteenth birthday. In addition to basic child support, the parents have an obligation to pay for daycare expenses and medical expenses of the child.

Multiple Families: The obligation to support prior-born children is recognized, which permits parents to deduct from their gross income, any court-ordered support to children that is being paid. However, the obligation to support children who were born or adopted after a support obligation arose is treated differently.

Factors for consideration upon which the child support guidelines may be adjusted:

  • Independent income of the child;

  • Any special needs of the family;

  • Extraordinary medical, psychological, educational, or dental expenses;

  • The custodial parent receiving both child support and spousal support;

  • Seasonal variations in a parent's income or expenses;

  • The age of the child, taking into consideration the greater needs of older children

  • The terms of any shared parental arrangement;

  • The total assets of the parents and the child;

  • The impact of the IRS dependency exemption and waiver of that exemption;

  • When the application of the child support guidelines requires a person to pay another person more than 55% of his or her gross income for child support;

  • Any other adjustment which is needed to achieve an equitable result which may include, but is not limited to, a reasonable and necessary existing expense or debt. Health insurance for the child and life insurance covering the life of the parent may be ordered to pay support. Child support payments may be ordered to be paid through a state depository;

  • If the parent or child receives Social Security Disability Income.

Here are some suggestions of records to keep when you pay or receive alimony or child support payments:

  • List with each payment the check or money order number, date, account number, and name of the bank.

  • Write on each check the week/month that the money is being paid for.

  • Get a signed receipt by the recipient for any cash payments

  • When possible, pay with a check or money order, or deposit the money into that person’s bank account.  Always be sure you reference “child support” in the subject line and the week or month you are paying, including the year.

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Laing & Weicholz, P.L. is located in Boca Raton, Palm Beach County, Florida.  We serve all of South Florida, including Broward, Dade and Palm Beach Counties and provide family law legal representation for: divorce, relocation, child support, child custody, visitation, time sharing, child abuse, domestic violence, procuring and defending restraining orders, paternity suits, ante-nuptial agreements and post-nuptial agreements.

Call (561) 416-1818 to schedule a free consultation today. 
 
 

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