The Florida Child Support Guidelines govern Orlando child support. It is one of the only areas where the parties have minimal discretion in setting the amount of support. While there are ways to deviate from the guidelines, the Courts scrutinize child support carefully as it is the child that is entitled to the support, not the parent. The Court will not allow the parties to completely waive child support. Thus, the key is to ensure proper information to calculate support and deviate when appropriate.
Information Necessary to Determine Child Support
Number of children
Net income of both parties
The timesharing schedule
Child care expenses necessary for employment
The portion of the health insurance cost is solely related to the children. The employer of the spouse paying this expense will be able to give you a breakdown to determine this amount.
Calculating Orlando Child Support
Child support can be one of the easiest or the most complicated issues in your case. If both parties are strict W-2 employees with no significant overtime or bonuses, and both parties set a timesharing schedule, child support is a simple calculation. However, while the calculation is simple it can be complicated when determining the information for the calculations. This can be not so straight forward.
One of the most disputed issues when calculating child support is the income of the parties. It can be complicated by the following factors:
If one or both of the parties is self-employed and/or is a partner in a business
One of the parties is underemployed
A single party receives compensation with stock options or other forms of deferred compensation
Income received from a trust
One of the parties is supported by family members
A party has assets and can earn investment income on those assets
Expenses for the Children in Addition to Support
In addition to the monthly support, the Court will also order the parties to pay additional expenses for the child(ren). The Court will typically order both parties to contribute to the extracurricular and uncovered medical expenses related to the child(ren). If the children are in private school the Court may order one or both of the parties to pay these costs associated with private school if the appropriate request is made.
Please call us if you have any questions about any Child Support issue. Call us at 407-403-5990 or contact us (below) to schedule your appointment.
