The amount of child support is based on guidelines defined in Florida law. Child support guidelines are standards used to determine the support needed for a child and the amount the parent has to pay. Guidelines help ensure that support amounts are fair Each state has guidelines, but they may be different in each state. Adding each parent's monthly net income together determines their combined disposable income.
The state uses this figure to establish a parent's basic monthly obligation or how much they are expected to spend on their children each month. Modifying Child Support Orders Over time, financial and life circumstances change and child support orders The Child Support Compliance Program of the Florida Department of Revenue is responsible for helping parents obtain and enforce child support orders from the children, including the location of the absent parents and the establishment Any parent can choose to get a child support order from the DOR instead of the family court, as long as they do not need a divorce or a parental responsibility and timeshare decision. These guidelines are used the first time child support is ordered and each time the amount of child support changes. Unfortunately, some parents try to avoid their child support obligation by quitting their job or not doing a proper job search.
Rather than sharing expenses proportionately, parties may find it more advantageous for one parent to cover child care expenses, while the other parent covers the health insurance premium for the child. Florida judges refer to the current version of the Florida Child Support Guidelines to calculate child support payments. The paying parent will pay a portion of the amount found in the child support guidelines based on their percentage of total net income. This involves taking each spouse's net income, dividing it by the total net income, and then multiplying this result by the child support obligation earned from the network.
If you know each parent's net monthly income and the cost of any health care or child care expenses a parent is paying, you can use this quick calculator to calculate your child support payment. If you have further questions about the income considered when calculating child support or what other deductions you may be entitled to, contact the Orlando family law attorneys at Adams& Luka. If a parent has a case before the DOR and the family court, the DOR works with the court to issue a child support order. If a parent refuses to participate in a child support hearing or fails to provide adequate income and financial information at the hearing, the court will automatically charge the parent with the income, unless it determines that the parent needs to stay home with the child (because the child is very young or disabled, for example).
For a support order to change, either parent's financial situation must have changed enough to create at least a 10 percent difference in monthly child support. For example, a judge may consider a child's high medical expenses as a reason to change the amount of support. If the other party is unemployed, underemployed, or not earning as much as you could in an attempt to reduce child support payments, the court can impute income.
