If you are going through a divorce that involves shared children, child support will almost certainly play a role, but many divorcing couples aren’t clear on exactly what that role is and how the payment system is established.
Contrary to what many divorcing couples think, child support is not simply a payment that fathers necessarily pay mothers post-divorce. There is no presumption about which parent will pay child support—instead, child support is calculated according to careful state guidelines that take wide-ranging factors into consideration.
If you have questions or concerns about child support in your case, consult with an accomplished Round Rock divorce attorney who has a wealth of experience successfully handling cases involving complex child support issues today.
One: Child Support Is Designed to Balance Financial Support between Both Parents
The State of Texas does not base child support solely on how much time each parent spends with the children, although this can affect the calculation process.
Texas makes every determination that affects children in accordance with their best interests, and both parents are deemed responsible for supporting their children financially – in direct relation to their financial ability to do so. This is why – even when parenting time is divided evenly – the parent who earns more generally makes child support payments to the other.
The Primary Custodial Parent
Often, one parent takes on the primary custodial role in a Texas divorce. This parent determines where the children make their primary residence—within the mileage limits set by the court—and spends the majority of their overnights with them.
This is the parent who typically receives the child support payments, and the mother is somewhat more likely to fill this role simply because women are somewhat more likely to stay home with the children during marriage and to serve in the primary parenting position.
The bottom line is that Texas courts take the status quo – or the children’s current living situation and how well it serves them – into careful consideration when handing down child custody orders, which directly affect child support. This is not a reflection of biased policies but, instead, reflects the state’s commitment to children’s best interests.
Parents Have Serious Responsibilities to Their Children
Parents are responsible for caring for their children, keeping them safe, and guiding them through life’s ups and downs, as well as for supporting them financially. While many divorcing parents think that they won’t need to pay child support if parenting time is divided 50/50, this thought process doesn’t adequately consider children’s needs and parents’ responsibilities.
The state intends for divorce to affect the children’s financial support as little as possible. This means that the higher-earning parent has the ability to provide more financial support and is, therefore, required to do so regardless of the parenting time arrangements.
What Child Support Payments Cover
A parent’s child support payments are designed to help ensure their children are well supported regardless of whether they are at the payor or the recipient’s home. In other words, child support helps balance support for the children across both residences.
Raising children is expensive, and keeping an accurate account of all the related costs can feel like an exercise in futility. Child support payments are designed to cover the overall cost of putting a roof over children’s heads, clothing them, feeding them, caring for them, entertaining them, and doing all the day-to-day things that are part of raising children.
In other words, the parent who pays child support isn’t entitled to an accounting of what their payments cover. Instead, it’s enough to know that the funds support their children’s overall health and well-being.
Two: Texas Courts Sometimes Order Child Support that Exceeds State Guidelines
While the State of Texas has an exacting child support calculation process in place, it will – when the situation calls for it – order payments that exceed the prescribed payment percentage or the support timeline.
Generally, the parent who is the higher earner is required to pay a specific percentage of their net income that is based on the number of children covered in the divorce case. The basics include:
The parent pays 20 percent for 1 child.
The parent pays 25 percent for 2 children.
The parent pays 30 percent for 3 children.
The parent pays 35 percent for 4 children.
The parent pays 40 percent for 5 children.
The parent pays at least 40 percent for 6 or more children.
Further, the child support obligation decreases as each child ages out. This happens when a child either turns 18 or graduates from high school – whichever happens later.
Texas courts have the discretion to deviate from these guidelines when circumstances call for it. A prime example is when a child has a debilitating disability and, as a result, the following apply:
They require more care.
Their care is more costly.
They continue to require focused care well beyond the point that children naturally age out of the child support system.
Three: Child Support Can’t Be Used as a Weapon
It’s very important to understand that both child support and parenting time are designed to support your children’s best interests, and neither can be weaponized against the other.
The State of Texas accepts the prevailing wisdom that – barring a serious reason for ruling otherwise – children are better off when they have strong relationships with both parents, which translates to spending a significant amount of time with each. Each parent’s financial responsibility to their children is also well established.
This means that, if your ex is withholding parenting time from you, it’s a serious matter that you should address with the court. You should not, however, cut off or diminish child support in response. To do so amounts to harming your children twice, and Texas courts take a dim view of this practice.
If your children’s other parent isn’t abiding by the orders handed down by the court in your case, don’t take matters into your own hands. Your practiced divorce attorney has the legal insight, experience, and skill to help.
Four: A Modification Isn’t a Good Substitute for Seeking Fair Child Support Terms Now
Yes, a child support modification is a possibility in the future, but this isn’t a good reason to ignore or fail to strenuously negotiate fair child support in your divorce case.
To obtain a child support modification, you’ll need to prove that there has been a substantial change in circumstances since your original terms were handed down, which can be a tall order and is neither cost-effective nor a good use of your time.
The bottom line is that the time to establish the child support to which you’re entitled is during your divorce case. If the relevant circumstances change down the line, you can pursue a modification at that time. This helps to ensure that child support is consistent with your children’s needs in the here and now.
Five: Texas Courts Take Many Factors into Consideration
When Texas courts make child support calculations, they are guided by the state’s calculation methodology, and factors like the following can play a part:
Each child’s age and developmental stage
Each child’s physical, emotional, and educational needs
Any special needs any of the children have
The matter of health insurance and who pays the premiums and out-of-pocket expenses
Each parent’s financial means and ability to pay child support
The cost of the children’s schooling and daycare
The amount either parent pays in child support for children from another relationship
The amount of parenting time each parent receives and the amount of time that the children actually spend with each parent – if different
The expense involved with traveling back and forth for possession
Six: Voluntary Unemployment or Underemployment Doesn’t Limit the Child Support Obligation
If your ex is artificially limiting their income as a means of diminishing their child support obligation – or in an attempt to avoid it altogether – you can count on your savvy divorce attorney to prove that they’re playing games. And you can expect the court not to take action.
Being intentionally unemployed or underemployed comes down to either purposefully earning less than one is capable of or purposefully not working at all.
While anyone can face a setback in their career, intentionally earning less – or earning nothing – isn’t tolerated by Texas courts, and the judge handling your case has the discretion to order child support based on what your divorcing spouse should be earning – rather on what they are earning.
Seven: Having Legal Counsel on Your Side is Always Advised
Even if child support is the only divorce term that you and your soon-to-be ex haven’t been able to negotiate between yourselves, it isn’t something you should leave to chance. Working closely with a knowledgeable divorce attorney from the start can help in all the following primary ways:
Your attorney will help to ensure that you understand the legal intricacies of child support and know your rights in relation.
Your attorney will build your strongest case in support of advantageous terms.
Your attorney will skillfully advocate for favorable terms that support your ability to provide for your children moving forward.
Your attorney will help guide you seamlessly through the negotiation process and will help you avoid the mistakes that, too often, harm clients’ rights as they relate to child support.
Your attorney will be well prepared to effectively address the matter in court in the event that negotiations aren’t successful.
FAQ
If you have questions or concerns about child support in your case, the answers to those questions that we, as divorce attorneys, hear most often may help.
Is child support ordered in every divorce that involves children?
Child support is ordered in nearly every divorce case that involves children because child support is intended to balance financial support between the parents – relative to their ability to provide it. Only when all the following is the matter of child support left unaddressed:
· Each parent spends the same amount of time with the children.
· Each parent earns the same income and has the same resources available to them.
· Each parent spends the same amount on out-of-pocket medical expenses for the children.
· The parents divide the cost of the children’s health insurance evenly between themselves.
Such circumstances are rare, and child support is generally ordered in divorces that involve minor children.
Can’t I withhold parenting time if my ex isn’t paying child support?
No, you can’t withhold parenting time in response to your spouse’s failure to pay child support. They are separate and distinct matters, and each works in opposition to your children’s best interests. It is your legal responsibility to abide by court orders, and if your ex isn’t living up to theirs, it’s a matter you should take up with the court rather than addressing on your own.
Is it possible to modify child support after the fact?
While it may be possible to modify your child support order after your divorce is finalized, this important form of support should be addressed during your divorce case. Child support modifications must be predicated on substantial changes in circumstance, and the modification process will add to your overall expense and outlay of time.
If you do experience a significant change in relevant circumstances as time passes, however, seeking a modification is advised, and a formidable divorce attorney can help.
Seek the Legal Guidance of an Experienced Round Rock Divorce Attorney for the Help You Need Today
Brett Pritchard at The Law Office of Brett H. Pritchard is a well-established Round Rock divorce attorney with a close understanding of child support’s legal intricacies and a fierce commitment to your related rights. We are on your side and here to help, so please don’t wait to contact or call us at 254-781-4222 for more information today.