Florida Child Support Laws
In a divorce action with children or to establish paternity, child support will be calculated and ordered to be paid. The Florida Statutes impose a financial obligation on both parents. However, only one parent usually pays it to the other. This is done through the Florida Child Support Guidelines established by the Legislature, see Section 61.30 of the Florida Statutes.
The Statute has a list of the types of income used, as well as the allowable deductions from that income, in calculating the child support obligation. It also provides a table indicating the basic support according to the number of children and net income of both parties.
Child support is a right granted to the children. So, even though you may be paying it to a former husband or wife (or a mother or father in a paternity case), you are really paying it for the benefit of the children. Therefore, the law doesn't let you avoid child support or used as a tool to negotiate, for example, in a divorce case. The question, then, is not whether a parent will pay child support; the question is how much child support will be paid and how (monthly, weekly, etc.).
The support is initially set in the original action for divorce or paternity case. It can be increased or decreased by filing a petition with the court to modify the child support obligaton. You can have the court consider whether child support should be lowered or raised at any time if there has been a change in the income of either of the parents or a change in the needs of the child. Generally speaking, the needs of children increase as they grow up.
Usually, the support obligation ends when the children reach the age of majority or graduate from high school.
The Florida Child Support Guidelines provide a child support formula to calculate the actual amount attributable to each parent. The amount established is a basic obligation; the cost of caring for children (day care) and cost of health insurance for them, under the conditions provided for in the Statute, must be added.