Child Support

Child support is generally ordered by the court in situations in which a child lives with one but not both parents. The non-custodial parent, or the parent with whom the child does not live, is responsible for contributing a certain portion of his or her income, based on state child support guidelines, to help support the child, even if the custodial parent has income of his or her own. All states, including Texas, have child support guidelines by which courts determine child support. The guidelines were originally established because variations in the amounts of support set in similar circumstances were considered to be too wide and because child support, in many cases, was considered to be too low. The guidelines are formulas that consider the income of the parties, the number of children, and a variety of other factors. Child support guidelines attempt to approximate the proportion of parental income that would have been spent for support of the child if the family had not been divided by divorce. Courts plug numbers into the formula and come up with an amount of support that should be paid for the child or children. Child support guidelines are not an exact method of calculating child support in every situation, and parties can argue that because of special circumstances, a court should order more or less support than the guideline amount.

For further information about child support in Texas, please contact the family law attorneys at Parker & Montgomery today.