Though relationships can end in the blink of an eye, child support continues for many years. When parents separate, one often ends up with custody of the children and the other is required to pay child support. Whether a child support issue arises during or after a separation, a lawyer can help the parents iron out their differences for the benefit of their children. Child support questions can be answered by an expert by getting a free consultation!
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The amount of income that the non-custodial parent earns is the most important factor considered by courts when determining child support. Once the court issues a child support order, parents must comply with the decision. Neither parent is legally permitted to lower or raise child support. The proper process is to file a motion with the court to modify child support and this is best handled by a lawyer for child support.
Documentation proving a change of circumstances must be presented with the motion. This notifies the court that the situation it initially reviewed has changed and an additional review is required. The most common reasons a court will lower child support are that the noncustodial parent cannot afford to continue the payments or the non-custodial parent pays for additional items that were not considered part of child support.
Once a court adjusts the child support amount, the parents are once again beholden to abide by it. If the custodial parent feels that the amount is too low, that has no bearing. However, if the non-custodial parent does not pay the amount of support ordered by the court, a motion of contempt of court can be filed. This may result in the non-custodial parent having to pay the unpaid arrears or even serve jail time until the non-paid support is paid.
To avoid legal problems, all agreements pertaining to changes in child support should be made via a motion to modify child support. If the non-custodial parent spends money on gifts and clothing for the children, receipts should be presented to substantiate that this was part of the child support payment. Withholding child support can result in strict penalties and severe emotional damage to children.
Parents should learn about their child support rights and contact an attorney to have a child support order modified. If a review of the situation reveals a justification to raise or lower child support, the attorney will file the relevant paperwork in court. This approach ensures that adjustments to child support payments are within the law.
My brother pays for child support and has the children half the month! But pays 700 a month he just had another child with a woman who he supports. How can he get his child support lowered?
Child support is a tricky thing in every single state. Depending on the state he lives in, he may be able to either modify his support or eliminate it completely. In states like Illinois, where a set percentage of net income is used (example: 20% of net income for 1-child), when the parents split time with the kids on a 50/50 basis, it would be likely that his child support would be either eliminated or drastically reduced, depending on the judge, of course. However, other states use what is known as an “income shares” model of child support. This is a very detailed formula that takes both parents income into account and the formula spits out a number based on that combined income to determine how much should be used to support the child. Then, another formula is used to determine exactly how many days each parent is with the child. Even if it ends up being literally a 50/50 basis of shared parenting time, the court may still award support based on making sure that the parent with lower income is able to still provide the money amount in formula 1 to support the child. If it sounds confusing (and not really fair), that’s because it is very confusing. This is why you need to advise him that if he wants his best chance at getting his support modified to a fair level (or to even find out if that is possible in the first place he needs to give us a call so that one of our local family law professionals can speak with him and find out more details about his specific case. You can read more about these different child support scnarios by clicking the links below as well. Good luck!
Child Support Help
State Guidelines for Child Support – Link to Statutes by State
unable to pay the amount the court ordered me to pay for child support. please help.
I live in indiana and I’ve been in a prolonged child support custody cases. As of right now I pay 118 a week for child support. I work 44 hours a week. My ex wife works 16 hours a week. She still lives at home with her parents and doesn’t pay any bills except for car insurance. Her family make well over 80k a year. They pay for food,mortgage,utilities. I’ve tried to contact my attorney about imputed income in the child support guidelines but he told me immediately I would lose. He never gave me a reason. I’m ready to fire him. My ex wife is perfectly capable of working 40 hours a week like me. She’s under employing herself so she can just collect my support. There’s definitely potential income there as she only works 16 hours a week. Do you think I have a case here?