Four Common Questions about Child Support Payments

Are you curious how child support arrangements work?  Whenever you are engaged in child support conversations with your ex, things can get complicated.  One of you may have more time to spend with the children, and one of you may have been the primary financial contributor to the family.  In some cases, you both may work and provide financial and parental support.  This makes child support arrangements complicated.  When you work with our child custody attorney in Orlando, we can help you through these steps of the legal process to ensure you get fair treatment.  When it comes to your children, it is out priority to provide you with the best legal advice and support.  There are a few common questions we receive about child support.

How do I know I am getting fair child support payments?

Many factors are taken into consideration to decide on a fair child support payment.  The court will look at where the child spends most of their time, the income of both parents, the cost of any childcare or extracurricular events, the cost of health insurance, other child support obligations, and the ages of the children in consideration.  All of these factors are taken into account when deciding on child support payments.

Is child support always required when parents split?

There are actually some circumstances where child support is not required to be paid.  Whenever you share custody of the children with your spouse, the child support guidelines may not require any payments.  Also, if both parents' income is about the same, and you also spend similar amounts of time with your children, you may never actually have to pay any child support.

What happens if I don't get child support payments?

If one of the parents is not paying the child support payments that are legally required, the primary parent may actually file for legal action against them.  Child support payments are required by law, so parents may actually file a Motion for Contempt for Child Support Order.  This will involve the courts in the process to make the other parent pay.

What if I am unhappy with the child support arrangements?

If you are unsatisfied with your child support payments, you can file a Motion to Modify Child Support Order.  This can be filed under certain circumstances, such as to request an increase or decrease in payments, or to suspend or terminate payments.  Whenever this is granted, it will become in effect on the date of the change, not at the beginning of the payment period.

These are just a few of the frequently asked questions about child support.  When you work with our premiere child custody attorney in Orlando, we can assist you through each step of the process so that your children are properly taken care of.  Contact us to schedule a consultation today.