Legal Expert

Child Support

In the State of Texas – as in all other states – both parents are expected to help financially support their children to adulthood. Child support is a legal tool that helps ensure that both parents pay their fair share (relative to their ability to do so). There are very few divorces involving children that don’t also involve child support payments – usually by the parent with the visitation schedule to the parent with whom the children live primarily (but this is not always the case). If you have questions or concerns about child support, a good place to start is by consulting with an experienced Austin family law attorney today.

Conservatorship

Texas calls child custody conservatorship, and often, one parent’s conservatorship is referred to as custodial. This means that the children live primarily with this parent and have a parenting schedule – or visitation schedule – with the other parent. In such a situation, the parent with the parenting schedule generally pays child support to the other parent to help offset the cost of raising children on a daily, ongoing basis.

Even if the children spend exactly the same amount of time with both parents, however, one parent might still need to pay child support to the other – in direct relation to his or her income. In other words, child support is intended to help ensure that both parents support their children financially in accordance with their ability to do so (with some minimum standards in place).

Texas Child Support Guidelines

Child support is usually figured in accordance with Texas child support calculation guidelines, which continue to evolve over the years. When extenuating circumstances are present, however, the court can wield its vast discretion on the matter and can assign child support payments that are different in both amount and duration from those predicated on state guidelines. In other words, child support payments can vary considerably from case to case.

The basic calculation process includes the following (note that net income refers to all of that parent’s income minus specific deductions that the law allows):

• If you share one child, the paying parent will make payments that equal 20 percent of his or her net monthly income.
• If you share two children, the paying parent will make payments that equal 30 percent of his or her net monthly income.

From here, the paying parent’s payments will increase by five percent per child until the number of shared children reaches six.

Pertinent Factors

A host of pertinent factors can influence a court’s decisions related to a specific child support matter, including:

• The amount of time each parent spends with the children
• Each child’s age and physical and mental health (a child with special needs may require additional financial support for a much longer period than is typically covered)
• Each parent’s financial situation, including the paying parent’s ability to do so and the receiving parent’s financial need (or lack thereof)
• The amount of debt each parent carries
• The cost of childcare that would be incurred if the parent receiving child support were to take a job outside of the home
• The cost of health insurance for the children
• The cost of the children’s education
• The amount of spousal maintenance involved in the divorce (and who pays maintenance to whom)
• Additional expenses already being covered by the paying parent
• Any extraordinary expenses required on behalf of any of the children, including such things as mental health counseling, tutoring, extracurricular activities, and much more
• Anything else deemed pertinent by the court

There’s obviously a lot to consider. The court’s primary motivation, however, is always putting the best interests of the involved children first.