Child Support is an emotional topic in the world of Texas family law just as much as it is a financial one. When you think about child support your mind immediately starts to consider the subject like a cash register or an ATM. Money goes in, or money goes out. That’s how it should be, right?
From our experiences serving families across the state of Texas, the attorneys with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan can tell you that there are multiple components to a child support case. More than just a financial transaction, child support cuts to the core of every aspect of your relationship with your child and co-parent. Bearing in mind that child support is intended to help meet your child’s basic needs, it is a subject that rarely is settled upon easily within a family law case.
Why is that? After all, as we are about to see, there are guideline levels of support contained in the Texas Family Code. That means these guidelines are thought to be in the best interests of your children. The default setting for a divorce or child custody case is to lean on these guidelines until it can be shown that to do so would not be in the best interests of your children.
In today’s blog post from the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, we are going to discuss what it means to walk through a family law case from the perspective of a parent. If you are wondering who is going to pay child support in your case, what it means to negotiate child support, and what can happen if child support is not paid then today’s blog post is for you.
What is a non-custodial parent?
Specifically, we are going to approach this case from the perspective of the non-custodial parent. In the world of family law, non-custodial means that you would be the parent who does not have primary custody rights to your child. Your child would live primarily with your co-parent while you have visitation rights as outlined in whatever possession schedule that the two of you have come up with. The possession schedule notwithstanding, you would likely have less time of possession than your co-parent.
As a result, you would be responsible for paying child support. At its core, child support reflects the reality that the State of Texas wants you and your co-parent to both have “skin in the game” as far as raising your child. Being able to support your child financially is a major factor to consider in this discussion. Just because you are not in possession of your child as much as your co-parent does not mean that you cannot be financially responsible to the same degree. By paying child support you are evening the playing field from a dollars and cents perspective.
The topic of custodial versus non-custodial parent is an important one in a child custody or divorce case. Much of the reason why parents tend to negotiate so hard on this subject is that parents want to be able to both have more time with their children as well as receive child support. The alternative would be to have less time with your child and be responsible for paying child support. If you have concerns over the role that you will be playing in the life of your child after a family law case then please reach out to the Law Office of Bryan Fagan today. We can help you learn more about the process of negotiating a family law case and will prepare you for a trial if that becomes necessary.
Child support- what do you need to know?
You can find countless blog posts, legal articles, and videos about child support on the internet. In prior generations, a person in your shoes had to worry about not having access to enough information. These days the opposite is true. Now we have so much access to information that it can be difficult to discern what is accurate and what is not accurate. Fortunately, the Law Office of Bryan Fagan is here to help you learn what you need to know as you head into a child custody case that involves child support.
As the non-custodial parent of your child, you may be disappointed in how your case is turning out. You may think that you are better off as your child’s custodial parent rather than the non-custodial parent. You have done so much for your child over the years and have always been present for him. Now that you are realizing that you are going to be the non-custodial parent those feelings of frustration are starting to boil over. You are even considering mailing it in the rest of the case and just letting the chips fall where they may.
This is not a wise idea. First, you need to be able to take advantage of every opportunity you must negotiate orders related to your child. You never know when the situation will present itself for you to go and modify the existing child custody orders. First, you need to have orders that you can fulfill in terms of your basic responsibilities of being a parent. That means spending as much time with your child as possible and paying child support successfully.
Child support calculations
As we mentioned a moment ago, the Texas Family Code contains guideline levels of child support which can be assessed against you. These guideline levels of support attempt to arrive at an appropriate level of support bearing in mind the needs of your child and your present circumstances. Let’s walk through how to calculate child support based on these guidelines before we go any further.
First, you will need to have your net monthly income calculated. If you are not convinced to hire an attorney for your child support case based on nothing else, then I would recommend that you look long and hard at what we are about to discuss. Determining your net monthly income may be relatively simple if you work a traditional, salaried job. You take your salary and subtract some basic living expenses and taxes until you arrive at your net income each month. Consistent income is key- if you have it, then this subject will not be overly complicated.
On the other hand, if you work irregular hours, are paid by the hour, are paid primarily in bonuses or commissions, or generally speaking do not have a salary as your main source of income then having your income calculated may be a challenge. Trust me when I say that your opposing attorney will try everything within their means ethically speaking to try and increase the amount of net monthly income that can be attributed to you. This would increase the amount of child support that his client would be in line to receive.
So, it is crucial for you that you be able to prove what your income is if you have more than one job, work contract jobs or have an inconsistent income. Working with an experienced attorney with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan can help you get to a point where you can determine what your income is and back that up with evidence. Determining an appropriate amount for your net monthly income is the first step towards serving your child and being fair to yourself.
The other part of calculating the amount of child support that you will have to pay is determining the number of children that you are responsible for supporting. No, this is not a trick question. You should count the children that you have before the current court as well as any other children that you are responsible for. A percentage of your income will be paid based on the number of children before the court. Also, you will receive a reduction in that percentage for any children not before the court that you are responsible for supporting.
Special circumstances which could increase or decrease child support
In any issue related to your children the best interests of your child will be the paramount goal of everyone involved. This means that if you leave the issue of child support up to the court then that court will take into consideration the current and future needs of your child, their emotional development, physical safety, ability of you and your co-parent to raise the children as a team and a host of other factors before determining what is in your child’s best interests.
There are special circumstances that can factor into a determination that the guideline levels of child support that we have been referencing today are not in your child’s best interests. Consider that what your child has going on in their life will be essential when determining the amount of child support that is appropriate.
Whether your child has a disability will make a difference in this situation. For example, let’s suppose that your child has a physical disability which he needs regular medical treatment for. He can go to school but needs therapy every week whose costs you can plan and budget for. In that case, you and your co-parent may want to build those costs into the amount of child support that you pay. This allows for a situation where you all know those therapies will be paid for. Additionally, the cost of them can be more evenly distributed this way, as well.
As with anything in a family law case, you and your co-parent will have the ultimate authority when it comes to determining the best interests of your child. As long as you and your co-parent can agree on something then there will probably not be a reason for the judge to not sign off on that order. Be mindful of the costs associated with your child and you will be serving his or her best interests.
How does child support get from you to your co-parent?
Ultimately, all the child support in the world will not make a difference to your child unless he receives it. This is where a wage withholding order and the Office of the Attorney General come into play. A wage withholding order tells your employer to withhold a certain sum of money each month to pay that money towards your child support obligation. The order is signed by a judge and mailed to your employer. From there, you will need to update the court each time you change jobs. Remember that it is your responsibility to make sure that the child support is paid in full and on time.
The Office of the Attorney General Child Support Division pays child support to your co-parent after your family law case comes to an end. The OAG acts as a clearinghouse for child support. You can check their website to determine where you stand when it comes to child support. Many people get nervous that the government oversees this process, but I can tell you that it offers specific advantages for you and your co-parent.
For one, it prevents the two of you from having to keep track of these things yourselves. When a third party keeps track of these payments the two of you are less likely to squabble over the details of who is right and who is wrong. I’m sure you can imagine a situation where your co-parent and you disagree on the amount of child support that needs to be paid. That can become quite a fight especially when the two of you have dug in your heels and are convinced that you are right, and the other person is incorrect.
Some of you non-custodial parents know what it is like to be denied time with your children due to arguments over child support. For example, have you ever been told by your child’s mother that you cannot see your child until you pay more child support? The two of you could have agreed to $1,000 per month in child support but without court orders, she could increase that number whenever she pleases. Fail to pay the support? Fail to see your children.
With a court order in place and the OAG overseeing the payment of child support that will no longer be an issue that you have to sort through. Now you can focus on your children and allow the court order and the OAG to collect the child support. All while keeping an accurate record of the payments to and from each parent.
Enforcing a child support order when all is not right
Unfortunately, it may come up in your situation that child support payments either are not paid or not received properly by your co-parent. Remember that I mentioned earlier that it is your responsibility to ensure child support payments are made in full and on time each month? This is true even with the OAG overseeing the process. So, if you switch jobs and do not update your new HR department on how much support needs to be paid and to whom the support needs to be paid.
This is a recipe for disaster. If you fall behind in child support, you can bet your bottom dollar (no pun intended) that you will hear about that from your co-parent. She will likely not wait long to alert you to the fact that your child support payment did not come through this month. If this type of thing happens to you then you should not panic. Rather, you should seek out the communication skills that you need and address the subject directly with your co-parent.
Preferably over the phone or in person, talk to your co-parent about whatever the reason is as to why your child support payment was missed that month. It could be that you did not update the new employer on your child support obligation. It could be that you lost your job and don’t have the money to pay child support. Whatever the reason it is better to be direct with your co-parent so that you can avoid a very serious outcome that could result from the failure to pay child support.
That outcome is known as a child support enforcement hearing. This is where your spouse drags you to court after filing a lawsuit and bringing to the court’s attention that you have not paid your child support as agreed to. For many people, this is about the last thing in the world that you want to see happen. This can be avoided if you communicate openly with your co-parent about the circumstances that led to you not being able to pay your support.
Keep in mind that your co-parent does not have to file an enforcement lawsuit immediately. By being honest and displaying a willingness to communicate you put yourself in a position where you may be able to get back on track with support and avoid another lawsuit.
Questions about the material contained in today’s blog post? Contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan
If you have any questions about the material contained in today’s blog post, please do not hesitate to contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan. Our licensed family law attorneys offer free-of-charge consultations six days a week in person, over the phone, and via video. These consultations are a great way for you to learn more about the world of Texas family law as well as how your family may be impacted by the filing of a divorce or child custody lawsuit.
Evan Hochschild was raised in Houston, TX and graduated from Cypress Creek High School. He went on to graduate from Southwestern University in Georgetown, TX with an undergraduate degree in Political Science. While in college, Evan was a four-year letterman on the Cross Country team.
Following in the footsteps of his grandfather and uncle before him, Evan attended law school after he completed in his undergraduate studies. He graduated from St. Mary’s University School of Law and has practiced in a variety of areas in the law- including family law.
Mr. Hochschild is guided by principles which place the interests of clients first. Additionally, Evan seeks to provide information and support for his clients with the heart of a teacher.
Evan and his wife have four small children together. He enjoys afternoons out and about with his family, teaching Sunday school at his church and exercising. A veteran attorney of fourteen years, Mr. Hochschild excels in communicating complex ideas in family law simply and directly.
