If you were ordered to support your child financially, you may have the right to request an amendment. Wait until your child turns 18. First, all child support in Florida must be calculated according to support guidelines. Therefore, to legally avoid paying child support, you must manipulate the factors used in the calculation to produce an amount of child support that is as close to zero as possible. If a parent is ordered to pay child support, this can affect the amount of support required for subsequent children.
The amount paid can be deducted from the parent's gross income used for Florida child support payment calculations. See Child Support Act 61,30 (f). Keep in mind that this only applies to a child support order. Therefore, if a parent voluntarily provides support without a court order, the deduction will not apply under this Florida statute.
In addition, child support orders are not amenable to the head of household's defense against garnishments. Many people share experiences of speaking with child support representatives in person, receiving a promise of action, and then seeing the opposite outcome. The first step is to calculate the total amount of child support payments required by reviewing the Guidelines. In cases involving joint custody, the court will generally apply a four-step analysis to determine the amount of child support.
Retroactive child support typically dates back to when parents stopped living together in the same household. The court will compare full support responsibilities in the percentage of time each parent has custody of the child. Once child support is determined, parents will continue to pay the set amount until the child turns 18. Payers and beneficiaries of child support sometimes get excellent help, and other times they don't get help. Under Florida statutes regarding child support law, adjustments to the Guidelines may be based on the parent's reasonable and necessary expenses.
It is important to ensure a timeshare schedule with your children that is as close as possible to fifty percent of overnight stays, not only for child support purposes, but also in the best interests of the children. Florida has strict child support laws to ensure that parents pay the required amount of support. Children with extraordinary medical, educational, dental, or psychological expenses can change the amount of support payments, as can any independent income of the child. Unfortunately, many people have misconceptions about how child support is calculated or when and how it is paid.
If your situation doesn't allow you to simply stop paying child support, you must file a Supplementary Petition to Modify Child Support. Without the UIFSA, Florida may not have jurisdiction to enforce child support when parents live in different states.
