Whether you’re divorcing or splitting as an unmarried couple, each spouse has a financial responsibility to their children. Many factors impact child support in Florida, including each parent’s financial resources, the number of children involved, and the length of time each child spends with each parent.
Child support is a right that belongs to the child in Florida, and parents cannot negotiate it away, nor can their consent to non-payment of fit. If you are going through a divorce or have a kid from a previous relationship and are concerned about child support, the child support attorneys of Serrano, Farah Law, LP have put together an ultimate guide on child support in Florida.
What is Child Support?
Child support is a court-ordered financial responsibility for the care, upkeep, training, and education of a child. See Florida Statute 39.01 on child support. Irrespective of whether the two parents are married, divorced, or single, it is their obligation. Parents cannot waive their child support payments under the state’s child support legislation. Finn v. Finn is an illustration of this. A minor kid’s parents have a legal and moral obligation to assist and sustain their child.
Child support will be calculated using Florida’s Child Support Guidelines. The Guidelines specify the amount of help that will be paid in each circumstance. The amount of the payment is determined in part by the parent’s income, parenting rights, and the number of kids involved. In most cases, the Florida Child Support Guidelines will be vigorously enforced by the court. In some cases, however, the court may diverge from the Guidelines.
How to Calculate Child Support in Florida?
To determine child support, the amount of child support that parents must pay. According to the Child Support Guidelines Worksheet, parents with a total monthly net income of $5,000 would be required to set aside $1,000 in basic child support. The parent’s income would then be divided by their combined income to calculate how much of the $1,000 they would each be accountable for.
Child support in Florida is determined using a formula set by law. Essentially, it considers two major factors. The first is the income of each parent. Second, the amount of time each child spends with each parent. These figures are entered into a complex calculation, which produces the monthly payment that one parent must provide to the other.
Costs of custodial parents versus. costs of non-custodial parents
In Florida, most expenses are assumed to be covered by the custodial parent. Courts believe that the custodial parent’s child support payment goes directly toward the child’s daily and weekly expenses. Food, clothes, housing expenses, school, travel, and other expenses are included in these costs.
The number of nights the kid or children spend with the non-custodial parent each year might affect child support calculations. Child support payments may be reduced for non-custodial parents whose children spend at least 20% of their time with them over a year. This is because the child is born more frequently, and money is spent on numerous items such as food, shelter, and clothes.
What happens if I don’t pay Florida child support?
The Florida Department of Revenue (DOR) will intervene and act if an obligor-parent (the parent ordered by the court to pay child support) denies or fails to pay child support in Florida. Depending on the nature of the case, there are a variety of instruments that may be utilized. One of the most prevalent sorts of cases is a Title IV – D case, which occurs when the government is providing child support services under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. ss. 651 et seq. This can include things like identifying the obligor parent, assisting with paternity determination, and implementing the child support order.
There is an income withholding order to the following parent’s employer in a typical Title IV-D case. This permits the DOR to take the legally needed monies from their paycheck and transfer them straight to the custodial (obligee) parent. If the obligor-parent has a non-traditional source of income, such as self-employment, the money must be sent directly to the DOR. There are other measures the state can utilize for child support enforcement in Pinellas County, in addition to the DOR’s income withholding order.
The Florida Court Clerks and Comptrollers can send a Notice of Delinquency if child support is unpaid 15 days after the due date. A judgment is entered against the obligor-parent if the delinquent plus related costs are not paid within 20 days. Any actual property, such as a car or a boat, is subject to this decision. In addition, if there is a delinquency, the Clerk’s Office has the authority to suspend the non-custodial parent’s driver’s license at the request of the obligee.
Child Support Modification
A parent seeking to amend a child support order must show that a significant change in circumstances has happened after the court has rendered an initial determination on child support. A parent having a better-paying job, a change in the number of days a parent has contact with the child, or a physical condition that limits work are all examples of changes in circumstances that might lead to an adjustment in child support.
Child support is paid in Florida until the child reaches the age of eighteen. The child support order will be dissolved on that day. Courts can, in some cases, extend a child support order to encompass a child who has turned 18 years old. Child support might be increased depending on a person’s mental or physical abilities. Furthermore, parents may still be responsible for child support payments if a child reaches 19 while still in high school.
Contact our Florida Child Support Attorney
We at Serrano, Farah Law, LP, understand the difficulties of determining and getting child support and will work with you to make the process as simple as possible. Contact our child support attorney today to learn more about child support in Florida.
