Child Support

UPDATE, JULY 2010: PLEASE BE AWARE, THERE ARE BRAND NEW CHANGES TO FLORIDA CHILD SUPPORT LAW. MORE INFORMATION COMING SOON. THE INFORMATION BELOW IS NOT CURRENT EFFECTIVE OCTOBER 1, 2010. In Florida, both parents have a statutory obligation to support their minor children. When parents separate or divorce, the Court will calculate the amount of support to be paid using the Florida Child Support Guidelines. To calculate child support pursuant to the Child Support Guidelines, the court examines each parent’s monthly income, the daycare costs for the minor children, the health insurance costs for the minor children, and several other factors, to arrive at a presumptive amount. This resulting amount is what is generally ordered by the Court; however, the Court may deviate upwards or downwards from this amount depending on various factors.

In many timesharing (custody) arrangements, one parent will have the children the majority of the time, and the other parent will pay child support. If, however, the parent paying child support has the children for more than 40% of the overnights in a given year, that parent’s child support obligation may be substantially reduced. If the parents share time with the children equally (“rotating custody”), then the amount of child support paid may be reduced even further, or may be zero, depending on the difference in the parents’ incomes and other factors.

Even if both parents are in full agreement that no child support should be paid, Florida Courts are generally unwilling to accept this agreement between the parents if the Child Support Guidelines mandate that an amount be paid. This is because child support is the children’s right to receive, and it is for the benefit of the minor children, not the parents.  It cannot be waived by the parents. Typically, child support is paid for each minor child until that child reaches the age of eighteen, or if the child is still in high school at age eighteen, then until graduation from high school.

At The Women’s Law Group, we understand that custody and child support can be delicate issues, and we work diligently and efficiently to make sure that your children are awarded the amount of support that the law requires.