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How to Calculate and Modify Child Support: A Practical Guide for Parents

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Child support, in the eyes of the public, has generated myth, speculation, and a lot of misunderstanding. Some see it as something that is guaranteed to bankrupt them, others see it as a system that does not require paying parents to pay enough, and facing divorce, many parents are genuinely worried about what their child support payment might be.

Child Support is a Formula

The first thing to remember about child support is that it is a formula. That means that there is not a lot of argument about how much ends up being paid. So, why is there all the fighting over child support? It is because the formula is based on two things that parents or ex-spouses generally fight about: How much money each parent makes and how much time each parent will have with the children.

As the saying goes, “garbage in, garbage out,” which, here, means that if a parent’s income is inaccurate, underestimated, or overinflated, so too will the child support payment be an amount that parents are dissatisfied with.

Total Support for the Children

There is no shortage of law that says how a parent’s income is counted, and what part of income is counted for the purpose of child support, but the first thing to understand is how the formula itself works.

The first question to ask, when calculating child support, is how much total do the children need to maintain their basic needs? These numbers are provided in the Florida child support guidelines.

These guidelines total the income of both parents, and from that number, determine how much the child or children will need for their support. While some deviation is possible, this total number is set in the law and can be found here. As you may imagine, the total amount of support is more or less, depending on how much the parents’ combined incomes actually are.

Determining Income

That entails a determination of what the parents’ incomes are.  In cases where parents make a consistent, steady income, that may be quite straightforward. In other cases, where parents may be self-employed, have more sporadic incomes, or where job history is inconstant or unstable, that may be more difficult—this is often where parents allege the other is “hiding money.”

Even once you agree on how much each parent makes, not all income is counted—it is net, not gross income, that is used for child support purposes, and the law allows certain deductions to see what that net income figure is. 

Each Parent’s Share

Assuming there is some agreement on how much both parents earn, and thus, how much total support the children need, the formula then calculates how much of that total support number each parent should be made to pay. 

To do that, the formula takes into account the percentage of the total combined incomes that both parents earn. For example, if the guidelines say that a child should receive $1,000 per month, and each parent has equal income, each parent’s share is 50% or $500.

From there, the formula calculates the overnights that each parent has with the child. Parents will pay child support based on the percentage of overnights that they have the child. Of course, practically, both parents do not actually pay—only one will pay: the parent who, after the calculations, makes more money or else who has the child more overnights. The formula takes into account how much the nonpaying parent should contribute, and reduces the paying parent’s payment accordingly.

This is why many timesharing battles happen in divorces. Whereas normally the parents may be agreeable, and may even want the same timesharing schedule, sometimes a parent, knowing that more time with their children reduces their child support obligation, will seek more time with the children for that reason. It is also important to note that when it comes to timesharing, and how it raises or lowers your child support obligation, it is overnights that count—not time spent during the day.

Payments for things like health insurance, medical or dental expenses, medicines, or child care costs are also calculated, and parents may receive more support or have to pay less support than they normally would if they are already paying some of these expenses.

Deviating From the Number

Once you reach a final support number, the judge can deviate from the child support, but only by 5%, and parents cannot agree to have no child support paid. In fact, any agreement for child support must be approved by the judge. While parents can, of course, agree on child support at mediation or some other collaborative process, that decision is pending the judge’s approval.

If child support sounds complex, it is because it can be. That is why it is best to see a good child support attorney to get an estimate of your support obligations, instead of trying to figure it all out on your own.

Modifying Your Support

If you have young children, you can expect to pay or receive support for many years. During that time, life and your financial picture may change. Parents do have a right to modify child support, but that requires a showing that any change in financial circumstances is significant and permanent. The changed financial situation cannot be of your own making. In other words, you cannot voluntarily resign, or quit your job, or switch to a lower-paying job, just to get your child support lowered.

Many people make the mistake of, when facing dire financial problems, simply stopping or lowering support payments. But even if your financial situation should change legitimately and honestly and permanently, you still must get a court order agreeing to modify or lower child support; you cannot just decide on your own to do it. 

Contact us for help and to get information on what you can expect in your divorce case, or with your child support obligations. 

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Child Support Essentials: Understanding Your Rights and Responsibilities

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There is an inherent irony in the public perception of child support.

On the one hand, payors (those who have to pay child support to the other parent) sometimes loathe paying child support. Many may see it as a sort of tax, or as “hidden alimony,” or even worse, a way for the other parent to pull money out of the payor parent.

On the other hand, nobody would argue with the fact that children need and deserve to be financially supported by both parents, that raising children is not an inexpensive thing to do, and most parents generally have a desire to support their kids. In fact, words like “deadbeat” and “irresponsible” are often thrown around at those who do not pay what is seen as a fair share of support.

Much of the (more extreme) beliefs on both sides comes from a fundamental misunderstanding about child support, and about the rights and responsibilities of both parents.

Your Responsibility to Manage the Money

Child Expenses

While it may be hard to grasp, given that the child support money is being paid to the other parent, child support is not actually a payment to the other parent, even if it physically goes to him or her—it’s money for the children. 

Think of the parent receiving the child support as a trustee—someone who receives child support, but who distributes and manages it, to offset the expenses related to raising or housing the children.

The Right to Know How the Support Money is Being Used

If you’re the payor parent, you cannot use how child support is being used or not used by the receiving parent as an excuse to not pay the ordered child support amount.

Admittedly, there is no oversight mechanism—nobody audits how the receiving parent uses child support, or verifies that every dollar of child support is used towards the children’s expenses. The receiving parent has no responsibility to show anybody how the support dollars were used. 

The law just assumes that any parent who has the majority of timesharing with the children will have expenses related to those children, and assumes that the child support money, directly or indirectly, is going to help pay for or offset expenses related to the children.

The Right to See the Children 

Many parents believe that if the other parent does not abide by the time-sharing obligations, as set forth in a judgment or mediated time-sharing settlement agreement or in a parenting plan, they do not have to pay child support.

This is not true; child support is not a weapon that can be withheld to coerce the other parent into giving you time-sharing. If you do feel the other parent is depriving you of court-ordered or agreed-upon time-sharing, you can go to court to enforce your right to see the children—but you cannot just unilaterally withhold child support, or use it as punishment to get back at a parent who is preventing you from seeing the children.

The Right to Adequate Child Support

Many parents, when they think of child support, think of how much the children cost or how much the receiving parent will or does need to house, clothe, feed, and take care of the children.

But that’s only part of the equation. Often, children may need more than parents can financially give. That’s why child support is based on a legal formula. Essentially, the Florida legislature has already determined how much in total support children may need. That amount varies based on the combined income of the parents.

There is room for extra payments outside of the base child support—for example, having a parent pay for half, or even all, of medical expenses, or extra curricular activities, tutoring, or counseling, just to name some categories.

So, while you may be the parent with a right to receive child support from the other parent, the amount of that payment is largely predetermined, and based on both parents’ income, as much as it is based on how much your particular children need in your particular lifestyle.

You Have the Right to Agree on the Support Amount (Within Reason)

In divorce cases, you and the other spouse have a right to agree on almost anything that you want to agree on—one benefit of going to a mediation conference or using a collaborative divorce process.

However, when it comes to child support, although you and the other parent can agree on a lower or higher amount, ultimately, it is the judge’s decision to approve the child support. Many judges may be wary of approving agreements that short-charge the children, with a child support obligation that’s less than what the child support formula says it should be.

The Right to Support, Even if You are Not Married

Child support cares about who the biological parents of the children are—it does not care about marriage. 

That means that even if you were never married to the other parent, you can still receive child support.These are called paternity actions. In some cases, the father may admit paternity, and the only issues are child support and time-sharing. In other cases, the father may dispute that he is the parent, and that must be determined before child support and time-sharing are determined by the court.

The Right to Modification of Support

If circumstances change over time, you may have the right to alter your child support payment amount.

Often, a parent may make much more, or much less, money than he or she did when the original obligation was set or agreed to. Or a parent’s lifestyle or life circumstances may change. 

Parents can ask a court to alter their child support modification—but do not just start paying more, or less (or nothing at all) on your own. Even if a modification is warranted, you still need a court’s permission to change the support amount.

His offices are located at 2431 Aloma Ave. #124, Winter Park, FL. 32792 and 3270 Suntree Blvd. Suite 103G, Melbourne, FL. 32940

Contact us for help and to get information on what you can expect in your divorce or paternity case. 

And if you found this article helpful, please leave us a review HERE.  

Modifying Child Support and Custody Orders: What You Need to Know

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There is an inherent contradiction when making decisions about time sharing and child support.

On the one hand, there needs to be stability—settlements and judgments need to be relied upon, and the parties (the parents) need to know what their rights, duties, and obligations will be going forward.

Child Support

Stability also helps the child; a child who gets used to one schedule should not have to suddenly adapt to a new one or move just because parents change their minds.

This means that judgments or settlements for child support and custody need to be final and determined and should be difficult to ever modify.

But on the other hand, life is uncertain. When you make decisions on time sharing and support when the children are little, you never know what curve balls life will throw at you later on. That means that decisions about time sharing cannot be absolutely permanent, as they need to account for changed circumstances in the parent’s life.

Agreeing to Modifications

Before getting into the details of how time sharing or support are modified, remember that parents can always agree to a modification. If they do both agree, the agreement should be put in writing and then given to an attorney to file with the court so that there is a record of the new agreement or altered terms.

Unforeseen Changes

The law has stuck somewhat of a balance when it comes to modifying time sharing and support.

The first requirement when modifying time sharing of a child, or child support, is showing that there has been a change of circumstances that was unforeseen at the time of the entry of the original settlement agreement or divorce case.

So, for example, imagine that dad works on commission and sometimes makes more and sometimes makes less money at work. The fact that dad has two or three “down years” financially would not justify modifying child support. It was known all along that dad’s income varied, and the parties knew that income could go up or down erratically.

Note that in 2023, the requirement that a changed circumstance be unforeseen or unanticipated was removed from the text of the law. However, in reality, many family law judges will still look at the circumstances and deny parents seeking modification if the modification is based on factors that were known to the parents at the time the original judgment or settlement was entered into.

Substantial and Permanent

Any change in circumstance must also be substantial. This means two things: that the change is not a temporary change, but rather, is permanent, and that the change is actually material—that is, enough of a change to warrant a modification.

For example, if mom needs dad to watch the kids a bit more for two months so she can get job training, that may not be a permanent change—it is expected to conclude in two months, at which time the parties can resume their normal schedule.

There is no hard line time limit for how long changed circumstances need to exist to be considered truly permanent. That is evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Many parents who fall on hard financial times seek to modify their child support, but unless it is proven that the decreased earnings are permanent, they will not justify a downward modification of support. This can avoid a situation where a parent temporarily under-employs him or herself, to make it look like he or she is earning less money in order to try to pay less child support.

Best Interest of the Child

Any modification must also be in the best interest of the child. The court will look at the same factors that were used to make the initial determination of time sharing.

Stability for the child is of paramount concern for the court, and it will not enter a modification if the court feels that the modification will upset the child’s life or take the child away from his or her friends, hobbies, school, or other elements of the child’s life.

There are times when a court can enter a modification in the absence of any of these factors, but that is usually when there is violence or some event that immediately threatens the child’s physical or emotional well-being.

Noncompliance with an Existing Judgment or Agreement

It is unfortunately common that a parent does not exercise the visitation or time-sharing that he or she is supposed to have. This can lead to the other (complaint) parent wanting to modify time sharing.

But the failure to abide by a time-sharing agreement or judgment, by itself, will not justify a modification. The party that is in compliance would have to bring a motion for contempt or another motion to compel compliance with the agreement or judgment against the other parent.

Relocation as Justification

If a parent was located more than 50 miles away when the original judgment or settlement was entered into, and that parent now moves closer to the child (within 50 miles), that will automatically warrant a changed circumstance, allowing a court to modify a time sharing arrangement, even in the absence of any other evidence.

Likewise, although not specifically written into the statute, most courts will also assume that a parent moving away further than 50 miles from the other parent would constitute a substantial, permanent, and material change in circumstances.

You Need a Court Order

Remember that to change a parenting plan or to change custody obligations, you need a court order. That means that you can’t just stop paying, deny visitation, or alter visitation schedules on your own.

If you feel there is an emergency, you can file an emergency motion to modify. However, outside of that, even if you were to win your petition to modify child support, the court would still force you to pay 100% of what your previous child support obligation was before the modification was entered.

That means that parties seeing a modification should comply with whatever orders or agreements are in place while waiting for the resolution of their modification case.

Need to change the terms of your visitation, custody time sharing, child support agreement, or judgment? Is the other parent threatening to alter your time-sharing or child support agreements or judgments?

Anthony J. Diaz is an experienced family law attorney focusing on Mediation and Collaborative Divorce. His offices are located at 2431 Aloma Ave Suite #124,
Winter Park, FL 32792 and 3720 Suntree Blvd., Suite 103G, Melbourne, FL. 32940.

You may contact Anthony Diaz by calling 407-212-7807 or by email an*****@************aw.com or visit anthonydiazlaw.com for more information.

If you find this article helpful, please leave us a review HERE.

What is the Difference Between Alimony and Child Support?

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When couples are getting ready to divorce, their mind often turns to financial concerns—specifically, how much they will have to pay to the other spouse or how much they can expect to receive from the other spouse. They often just lump what they might have to pay, or what they are paying, into one giant payment in their minds. But in reality, there are two distinct areas where someone may be obligated to pay money to the other spouse on an ongoing, periodic basis — alimony and child support.

There are differences in the intent and purpose of both of these items, as well as different factors that determine how much the payor spouse (the spouse paying the money) will pay.

The Purpose and Logic of Child Support

As the name implies, child support is money that one spouse pays to the other to pay for the living expenses necessary to care for and raise the child. The logic is that if the parents were still together, both would share the child’s daily living expenses, so that should not change just because the parties are divorcing or separating. One parent should not have a child with the other and then be able to walk away from the marriage, leaving the other to pay 100% of the child’s expenses.

It can be hard for many payor (the party paying the money) parent to reconcile that even though the child support money is for the child, the money is paid to the other parent. Additionally, as a general rule, there is no legal requirement on how child support money is used. Nobody is monitoring the funds to make sure they only go toward the child’s expenses.

The law just assumes that whatever the actual money is used for, the additional income will eventually benefit the child. This can create anger and frustration with parents paying child support, who may feel that their money is not being used for the child.

Who Pays What?

As a general rule, the parent who has the child the fewer nights will often be the parent paying child support, although income also counts as well–the more income, the more support will be paid.

However, it is possible for parents to share time-sharing 50%-50%, and while this does not eliminate the necessity to pay child support, an evenly divided time-sharing schedule can reduce the child support obligation that the payor parent must pay.

Florida has child support guidelines. That means that in most cases, you will plug in your income figures, and with a few additions and deductions that are allowed under the child support guidelines, you will have a child support figure. It is just math based on a statutory formula.

The biggest argument in child support often comes with what number goes into the formula; parents will often argue that the other parent is hiding income or artificially lowering income just to get a smaller dollar figure to put into the formula and thus, a smaller child support obligation.

Child support ends when the child turns 18 or enters college—however, special circumstances like a disability may extend child support. Additionally, unlike alimony, the court can order that child support be deducted automatically from the paying spouse’s paycheck through an income deduction order.

Alimony

Alimony is different from child support in that alimony is awarded for the benefit of the payee (receiving) spouse. The purpose of alimony is to keep a spouse in about the same lifestyle that he or she had during the marriage; it is not fair for a spouse to contribute to the marriage for many years, give up personal financial or professional opportunities, and then be left destitute after a divorce because the other spouse was the money earner in the marriage.

Unlike child support, there is no mathematical formula and no grid of numbers that tell anybody how much alimony is or will be. This means that a court has much discretion in awarding alimony and that every case may be different based on the facts. This is another area where mediation may be helpful, as you can mitigate the risk of a large alimony award being given by a judge.

Alimony Factors

Alimony is based on the need and ability to pay; the receiving spouse must show the financial need, and the paying spouse must have the ability to pay the alimony (even if it is just a small amount of alimony). Additionally, the length of the marriage will be considered. Shorter-term marriages often result in no alimony award at all, or smaller payments for shorter time periods, whereas with longer marriages, there is often a presumption that some form of alimony must be paid.

To see if alimony should be awarded and how much, the court will look at things like the standard of living of the couple during the marriage, the financial resources both spouses will have once the marriage is over, and the contributions to the marriage that a spouse made, such as raising kids helping a family business grow, taking care of the home, or other sacrifices made by one spouse, for the success of the marriage and family.

Types of Alimony

Alimony is much more flexible than child support. There are many different kinds of alimony. Some include:

  • Bridge-the-Gap – this is temporary, short-term alimony, just to help a spouse get “over the hump” of going from married to single life. This alimony can only last for two years
  • Rehabilitative – this is where a spouse can become financially self-sufficient but may need time and resources to do that. The spouse may need to wait to get job training or wait until a child gets old enough that the parent can go to work, or the spouse may need to get a degree. During that time, the paying spouse will pay rehabilitative alimony.
  • Durational – This is like rehabilitative alimony, but there is no rehabilitation plan; the alimony just lasts a specific period of time and then ceases. This support can last for no more than the number of years that the marriage lasted.
  • Permanent – Permanent alimony is usually reserved for very long marriages and situations where the receiving spouse has no reasonable expectation of being able to support him or herself. For example, a spouse may be too old to be retrained or may be ill or disabled. The receiving spouse may not ever be able to work because they need to take care of a special needs child.

Of course, you have much more control over what you pay and can try to craft a payment agreement that works better for you and your own situation by resolving the case on your own. The best way to ensure that your child support or alimony obligations, if they are necessary, are fair and reasonable is to try to come to some kind of agreement outside of court through mediation or settlement.

We can help you understand the financial aspects and obligations that you may face in your divorce and get you the best result possible.

Anthony J. Diaz is an experienced family law attorney focusing on Mediation and Collaborative Divorce. His offices are located at 2431 Aloma Ave Suite #124, Winter Park, FL. 32792 and 3720 Suntree Blvd., Suite 103G, Melbourne, FL. 32940.

You may contact Anthony Diaz by calling 407-212-7807 or by email an*****@************aw.com or visit anthonydiazlaw.com for more information.

And if you found this article helpful, please leave us a review HERE.