Children require nurturing, love, and financial support. After a divorce, it can be difficult to provide these if you have a child in a one-parent household. This is when understanding your rights and responsibilities regarding child support becomes crucial.
As a top Dade City child support attorney, Jon Newlon is here to help. Jon Newlon of Newlon Law, P.A., has more than 25 years of legal experience and is passionate about protecting the children and parents of Florida.
What Is the Purpose of Child Support?
Child support is financial support one parent pays to the other to help cover the costs of raising a child. The support ensures your child’s needs are met, including:
- Housing,
- Food,
- Clothing,
- Health care, and
- Education.
Child support cases and child custody cases often go hand in hand, so starting a child support case might require you to start a custody case as well.
When Does the Court Grant Child Support?
Florida courts order child support when parents don’t live together. This usually happens during a divorce or separation, but parents who were never married and parents who remain married but live in different homes can also seek child support.
How to Start a Child Support Case
There can be several steps to obtaining child support in Florida. Generally speaking, you must identify the other parent, file a case, and provide evidence to support your request.
Establishing Paternity
If you are a mother who did not marry the father of your child, you will likely have to establish the father’s paternity before you can request child support. You can establish paternity in one of the following ways:
- A notarized or witnessed voluntary acknowledgment of paternity from the father, or
- A legal order based on genetic testing.
Proceedings to establish paternity can occur through the family law courts or the Florida Department of Revenue.
Starting a Court or Administrative Case
If the paternity of your child is known, you can move straight to a child support claim. To start a child support case, you may need to petition the court. Your request for support can be part of a divorce case, or you can file a standalone child support petition. After you file your petition, you must have the other parent served with the paperwork, usually by having the sheriff personally deliver your paperwork to the parent.
If you prefer to have a Pasco County child support office in Dade City, FL, handle your child support case, you can apply for child support services through the Florida Department of Revenue. An order through the Department of Revenue has the same effect as an order from a judge in a child support court case.
Whatever avenue you choose, a skilled child support attorney in Dade City can help you with the child support process. We can help ensure that parents seeking support receive the payments they deserve, and we can help ensure that parents paying support don’t pay unfair amounts or receive unfair sanctions.
How Child Support Is Calculated
So, how much child support should you expect to pay or receive? The answer to that question depends on your circumstances. Florida uses a formula to calculate child support and considers the following:
- The child’s needs,
- Each parent’s income,
- The number of children,
- The child’s age,
- Healthcare costs,
- The child’s standard of living, and
- The parenting time rights each parent receives.
The law’s goal is to ensure parents contribute fairly and the children receive what they need.
What Counts As Income?
Florida law considers various sources of income for a parent when calculating child support, such as:
- Bonuses and commissions,
- Retirement or pension benefits,
- Trust or estate income,
- Self-employment income,
- Interest and dividends,
- Wages or salary,
- Business income,
- Social Security benefits,
- Rental income,
- Disability benefits,
- In-kind payments that reduce living expenses,
- Unemployment compensation,
- Royalty income,
- Workers’ compensation benefits, and
- Any other recurring income.
The law combines the above-listed resources to determine a parent’s monthly income. To ensure that the court’s assessment of your or the other parent’s income is accurate, you may need a knowledgeable Dade City child support attorney from our firm to review and argue your case.
What Happens If a Parent Doesn’t Have a Job?
Sometimes, a parent may intentionally become unemployed or underemployed to avoid paying child support. This tactic does not work. In such cases, the court can impute income to the unemployed or underemployed parent. This means the court will assign an income to that parent based on their earning potential.
To impute income and calculate a child support obligation, the court may consider the following:
- The parent’s recent work history,
- The parent’s education and skills,
- The prevailing wages in the parent’s area, and
- Whether the parent is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed.
The law has tools to ensure parents can’t avoid child support obligations by manipulating their income.
Enforcing a Child Support Order
If a parent doesn’t pay child support as ordered, there are many options for making them pay. Enforcement of a child support order can involve the following sanctions against the non-compliant parent:
- Wage garnishment,
- Denial or suspension of a professional license,
- A contempt of court sanction,
- Interception of a tax return, or
- Suspension or denial of a driver’s license.
Chasing down a parent who refuses to comply with a child support order can be exhausting work. Let our Pasco County child support attorney do this hard work for you so that you can focus on making a loving and peaceful household for you and your child.
Modifying or Terminating Child Support
Rarely do circumstances stay the same for a lifetime, and you may need to seek changes in your child support order at least once. Child support orders can be modified if there’s a substantial change in circumstances, such as:
- A change in income,
- A change in the child’s needs,
- A parent’s job loss, or
- The child turning 18 (with some exceptions).
Modification of a support order must be in the child’s best interests. To cover all your bases when asking for an initial child support order or a change in your existing order, you should have a skilled Dade City child support lawyer help with your request.
Why Choose Jon Newlon As Your Child Support Attorney?
Child support matters are vital. You should have an attorney who understands the law and cares about your child’s well-being. That’s where Newlon Law, P.A., comes in.
Jon Newlon has been practicing law for over 25 years. He is an award-winning attorney with big firm and transactional experience, giving you the comprehensive and holistic representation you deserve.
If you are looking for one of the best Dade City child support attorneys, you’ve found one here. Jon Newlon can help you understand your options and achieve the best outcome for your child.
Speak with the Best Child Support Attorney in Dade City Today
At Newlon Law, P.A., we are highly experienced and motivated to get you the results you deserve in any family law case. Let’s discuss your case and find the best path forward for you and your child. You can contact us online or by phone to set up a consultation. Don’t go through this alone.