Texas Child Support: A word (or two) on Net Resources

With great regularity, people walk into the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC, to speak to one of our attorneys about the subject of child support. This is a subject that is almost always an issue that is debated during divorce and child custody cases for several reasons.

For one, both parents want what is best for their children. This does not matter if you are the parent who is set to receive child support or the parent who will be on the hook to pay child support. Everyone wants what is best for their child. However, different parents have different beliefs about the best care for their children.

This is especially true for the mandatory payment of money directly from one's paycheck. That creates a whole new level of intimacy that this process connects to.

Seeing how many people stop by with so many questions, I figured it would make sense to spend some more time on this subject. Today we will go through a few different situations that deal with child support in Texas.

Where is child support calculated from?

Is it your income that child support is based on in Texas? Is it the total amount of money that you have access to? What about other sources of income like investment properties, second jobs, and things of that nature. Do these count for child support?

This is a ubiquitous question because it is highly relevant. Before you know your responsibility for child support, you need to know from what source the State will pull your money.

You probably know that the way that Texas calculates child support is based on a percentage formula. Beginning with 20% for one child and going all the way up to 40% for five or more children, your monthly net resources are tapped to pay whatever level of support is necessary for you and your family based on the number of children you are responsible for.

Monthly net resources are not a term that rolls off the tongue nor is it self-explanatory in terms of what goes into calculating this figure. Your net resources for Texas, child support calculations, total all the income you derive every month. This includes assets that you own that produce income. Tips, overtime pay, wages, salary, and bonus money are some of the most common sources of income that go into your network resources.

Beyond these more common sources of income, we see things like retirement pay, social security benefits, unemployment benefits, and worker's compensation benefits are also the fair game when calculating your monthly net resources. However, the ten or so items that I listed in this blog post are not the only sources that can be considered income for your purposes. The Texas Family Code contains an all-encompassing list that, if you are curious, I would recommend you go and look at yourself.

Social security taxes, federal income taxes, and cash medical support paid for your child will be deducted from your income to arrive at the net monthly resources figure that is appropriate for you. Whatever your yearly total is, divide that number by 12 (for the entire months in a year), and you have your monthly net resources.

What percentage will be applied to my monthly net resources for child support purposes?

It took us a little bit to get there, but we now have the amount of monthly net resources that will be considered for your payment of child support. The next step in the process will be to take the appropriate percentage and multiply that by your monthly net resources to get your monthly child support obligation.

The concept that we need to keep in mind is that the court will be concerned with the number of children that are presently before it and how many other children you are responsible for that are not before the court currently if one child is presently before the court then twenty percent of your monthly net resources will be paid in child support.

However, if you have another child for whom you pay to support that is not presently before the court, your obligation, in this case, will be decreased by 2.5%. You will be credited for the support paid to the other child and will only be responsible for paying 17.5% of your net monthly resources towards the help of this child.

Advice: Hire an attorney to represent your interests when child support is at stake

If any of the paragraphs mentioned above don't make a ton of sense, don't worry. Whenever math and the law are combined, it becomes confusing for most people.

As a result, having someone by your side to help guide you through the process can be extremely helpful. Having an experienced family law attorney to provide peace of mind and combat any attempts by your spouse's attorney to increase the amount of support you should pay artificially is advisable. This is especially true if you are a parent who has multiple streams of income that would be in consideration to be counted among your net monthly resources.

Questions on child support? Contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC

From the Golden Triangle to The Woodlands and Sugar Land, the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC, represents clients from all walks of life and backgrounds with pride. Our duty and obligation are to put your interests ahead of our own, and we pledge always to do so.

If you have any questions on child support or any other in Texas family law, please do not hesitate to contact our office today. A free-of-charge consultation where your questions can be answered is only a phone call away.

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Other Articles you may be interested in:

1. How to correctly calculate child support in Texas
2. Is Overtime Pay or Bonus Pay Considered for Texas Child Support?
3. Child Support in Texas: What is the most you will have to pay, and what are the exceptions to that rule?
4. The Dirty Trick of Quitting Your Job to Avoid Child Support During a Texas Divorce
5. Can I get child support while my Texas divorce is pending?
6. Do I Have to Pay Child Support if I Have Joint Custody of My Child in Texas?
7. Can I Sue My Ex for Retroactive or Back Child Support in Texas?
8. Child Support and College Tuition in Texas
9. Texas Child Support Appeals
10. In Texas, are Child Support and Visitation Connected?
11. Why Ignoring Child Support Obligations is a Bad Idea in Texas
12. Can I get child support and custody of my kids in Texas if we were never married?

Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC | Houston, Texas Child Support Lawyers

The Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC, routinely handles matters that affect children and families. If you have questions regarding child support, it's essential to speak with one of our Houston, TX, child support lawyers right away to protect your rights.

Our child support lawyers inHouston, TX, are skilled at listening to your goals during this trying process and developing a strategy to meet those goals. Contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC by calling (281) 810-9760 or submit your contact information in our online form. The Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC, handles child support cases in Houston, Texas, Cypress, Klein, Humble, Kingwood, Tomball, The Woodlands, Houston, the FM 1960 area, or surrounding areas, including Harris County, Montgomery County, Liberty County, Chambers County, Galveston County, Brazoria County, Fort Bend County, and Waller County.