Knowing how child support is calculated in Florida is important for both parents. It will help you make decisions as to time-sharing during the divorce, and also provide you an idea of when it might be appropriate for you to ask for a child support modification.
The Right to Child Support
The starting point of child support laws is the obligation of both parents to financially support their children. one’s children. Florida law establishes the principle that both parents have the obligation to support their minor or dependent children.
The right to receive child support belongs to the minor or dependent children in a relationship. 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 your children.
While you and the other parent owe an obligation of support to your children, you are not going to be writing checks to a child. You or the other parent will pay child support to whichever one of you turns out to owe more than the other in support according to the Florida child support guidelines.
Myths About Child Support
It is a common mistake to think that only fathers pay child support. For example, if the mother’s income is larger than the father’s and both will have equal timesharing, then the mother will pay child support.
It is also a mistake to think that you and your spouse can agree that you will have equal timesharing with the children so that neither of you pays support to the other. That may or may not be true, depending on how much each of you earn.
Another myth about child support involves getting divorced without either parent paying support, or establishing a child support amount. The law doesn’t let you avoid child support or use it as a tool to negotiate in, for example, 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.); and whether you can reduce your child support in some situations.
How Child Support is Calculated
The child support law guidelines are detailed in Section 61.30 of the Florida Statutes. It is based on the formula set out in that section.
The guidelines work on the basis of the time each of you will spend with the children, and on the combine income of both you and the other parent.
In terms of timesharing, we are talking overnight time spent with the children. We are not talking about picking up a child for a few hours and then returning them to the other parent.
Because it is rare that both parents will make the same amount money and will also spend the nights equally, most calculations result in one parent having to pay some amount to the other.
The Section 61.30 has a list of the types of income used in determining what your income is for purposes of child support. It also has a list of what you can deduct from that income to arrive at the amount that will be used to calculate child support. This same calculation will be done on the other parent’s income to determine their income for purposes of calculation child support.
How Much Will You Pay in Child Support
If you want to know how much your child support amount may be, you can do the calculations yourself. The easiest way is to use the Florida Child Support Worksheet, Form 12.902(e) of the Florida Family Law Forms.
The Worksheet comes with instructions on how to calculate your income. It does not, however, include information on the deductions allowed by the Child Support Statute. For those, you will have to read the Statute itself, Section 61.30.
You will need to know (or guess) at the income from the other parent. Since you and the other parent need to file a financial affidavit, you can get the other parent’s income from the financial affidavit.
Aside from income for you and the other parent, you will also need to use a number of timesharing nights for each of you . Until the timesharing is decided–or agreed to, if you and the other parent have an understanding on timesharing–you can play around with the Worksheet using different numbers for overnight.
Changing the Amount of Child Support
The amount you will pay as support is initially set in the original divorce case or paternity case. Once a permanent amount of support has been set, it can be increased or decreased by filing a petition with the court to modify the child support obligation.
You can have the court consider whether child support should be lowered or raised at any time. An example would be if your income of that of the other parent has changed since the initial amount was established. Another example would be if there has been a change in the needs of the child since the child support amount was first set.. These changes need to be permanent, not something temporary. Generally speaking, the needs of children increase as they grow up.
Changing the amount of child support-either up or down-involves doing the child support worksheet with the new incomes. This is what will let you know what chances you have of getting the court to modify your child support.
Usually, Florida child support ends when the child turns 18 years old or graduates from high school. There are exceptions to this rule, set out in the Statute.
The amount set by Florida Child Support Guidelines includes a a basic obligation; the cost of caring for children (day care or after-care) and cost of health insurance for them.
Conclusion
Child support has an undeserved bad reputation. Its purpose is for you and the other parent to help your child with his or her financial needs while they are dependent on both of you. many of the problems related to calculating support come from the misconception of parents and, sometimes, the overreaching by legal professionals to include income in the calculation.
If you need legal representation in a divorce with children, or in a paternity case, contact us or call 305-710-9419, to get more information.