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At the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, we proudly serve individuals throughout Southeast Texas, regardless of background, origin, or political affiliation. Our commitment to impartiality allows us to effectively support a diverse range of clients facing a wide variety of family law challenges. Each day, our experienced team navigates the complexities of family law with dedication and compassion, offering strong advocacy and personalized representation. We handle everything from routine matters to high-profile situations like the Hunter Biden case with professionalism and care, confidently managing even the most sensitive and complex legal issues.
This is a responsibility we embrace with pride, endeavoring each day to uphold our standards of excellence. From resolving custody disputes to representing clients in high-profile cases, we stand ready to guide you through the legal process with compassion and expertise.
Many times, it can feel like what you are going through puts you on a desert island. Nobody to commiserate with. Nobody knows what it’s like to be you. It can be a lonely feeling to have child support, child custody, or a divorce case thrust upon you. You wanted to live your life and be the best person you could be. Now you are going through a family law case. Not exactly a fun circumstance. Additionally, as you look around, you may feel singled out or as if you’re going through something no one else truly understands.
Facing family law: finding perspective amidst challenges
The attorneys with our office want to share with you a different perspective on this subject. We know that it can be tough to find yourself going through a family law case. It isn’t exactly enjoyable to have to come face to face with a range of different subjects in your life that are unpleasant or force you to face some uncomfortable truths about yourself. Whether you want to or not, you cannot overlook or ignore a family law case. You must face down the case when it comes to calling.
Having to go through an unpleasant family law case is a reality not only for you but also for famous people. While the rich and famous may have perks in other areas of their life, once they find their way inside of a courtroom it can be a dose of reality that hits them in the face. This is the situation that Hunter Biden, the oldest son of President Joe Biden, finds himself in currently.
We are going to talk about Hunter Biden’s situation in a family court in Arkansas and then tie that into how it is relevant for us here in southeast Texas. Whether you are a parent who receives or pays child support, today’s blog post should help you to understand the factors that play into child support determinations and how Mr. Biden’s situation can be a lesson for parents- no matter if your dad is the President, or not.
The Background of Hunter Biden’s child support saga
Let’s explore the Hunter Biden situation and highlight key aspects of Texas family law along the way. This approach will help illustrate the complexities involved and provide valuable insights. On May 1st, Hunter Biden had a court date in an Arkansas courtroom with the mother of his child, a woman named Lunden Roberts. Mr. Biden is the father, through paternity testing, of a four-year-old girl named Navy Joan Roberts. The child in question was born in August 2018. Let’s take the situation from there and implement some Texas family law to bring everyone up to speed on what this situation would mean for a Texas family.
In Texas, if Navy Roberts was born to unmarried parents, the law does not apply a legal presumption of paternity. When a married woman gives birth, the law presumes her husband is the child’s father. However, if the parents are not married, they can establish paternity by signing an Acknowledgment of Paternity (AOP) form. Once both parents sign the AOP, they can submit it to the Bureau of Vital Statistics, which will establish paternity without requiring a court case.
Paternity and legal rights: the Hunter Biden case
To my knowledge, that is not what happened with Hunter Biden, Navy Roberts, and her mom. Lunden Roberts filed a paternity lawsuit in May 2019, approximately nine months after the birth of Navy Roberts. A paternity suit is a petition (request) to establish who the legal father of a child is. Just because a man is a biological father to a child does not mean that he has paternity rights or is the legal father to a child automatically. The only exception occurs when the biological father is married to the mother at the time of the child’s birth.
A January 2020 court order established paternity, naming Hunter Biden as the legal father of Navy Roberts. In situations like this, DNA testing typically establishes paternity. A cheek swab is taken from both the child and the man who may be the biological father. The tests analyze the samples to determine paternity, ultimately establishing a parent-child relationship. The child has a right to inherit property from the parent, and has the potential to take advantage of Social Security benefits should the father pass away before the child turns 18 and a host of other benefits. The father has the right to then make decisions for the child in certain areas established by the court order and the duty to support the child.
Child Support and Hunter Biden
That is where we are going to pick up the story involving Hunter Biden. When Mr. Biden appeared in the Arkansas courtroom on May 1st, it was regarding a child support hearing that Mr. Biden had requested. Child support in Texas is established in most cases based on the guidelines contained in the Texas Family Code. In short, a percentage of a parent’s net monthly income is assessed and paid as child support. For people who work 9-5 jobs, this is not a difficult formula. Your net income won’t be hard to figure because you probably have one job and one source of income. The court determines the percentage multiplied against your income based on the number of children involved. This isn’t tough math to do. However, the situation changes when you are someone like Hunter Biden.
Mr. Biden has asked the family court to decrease the amount of child support that he is expected to pay to Ms. Roberts. Why could that be? I haven’t seen any pleadings or motions filed into the court case, but we can assume that it has something to do with Mr. Biden contending that his income is not as high as it previously was or that a change in circumstances has occurred otherwise. This is known as a child support modification case. He is asking the court to modify downwards the amount of child support that he is expected to pay. This request often arises about three years after establishing the initial court order. At that time, it is normal to see a parent’s income change or have the needs of the child change.
Hunter Biden case: Understanding child support
From what Mr. Biden’s attorney has said, Mr. Biden pays $20,000 per month in child support. This is an extremely large amount of money. Any of you reading this blog post who are parents can probably understand that the monthly needs of most children are not nearly $20,000. However, based on Mr. Biden’s income and unique circumstances, the court determined in his last case that his daughter should receive that amount in child support each month.
The best interests of the child standard applies nationwide, guiding judges in their decision-making regarding minor children. The factors and other details about the analysis may differ from Texas to Arkansas but the judge looks at the needs of the child both now and in the future. The courts assess special medical needs, behavioral issues, and educational costs to determine the appropriate amount of financial support.
Discovery process in the Hunter Biden child custody case
In the hearing on May 1st, the judge provided deadlines for the parties and their attorneys to follow as far as submitting discovery questions to one another. Discovery is a formalized process where each side can submit questions and seek answers from the opposing party. Mr. Biden may want to know the monthly childcare costs that Ms. Roberts incurs for daycare. Meanwhile, Ms. Roberts will be interested in understanding Mr. Biden’s monthly income and where he earns his paycheck. Mr. Biden may need to turn over income tax records and other things like that to verify his income. Mr. Biden may not receive a paycheck like most people from a traditional job, so he must verify his income through other means.
One of the many unique parts of this case is that Mr. Biden is something of an artist and has sold artwork worth hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of dollars. The attorney for Ms. Roberts is requesting information and details about the art deals, his salary, and employment for the past five years, any money that he has received from non-U.S. citizens as well as income earned from family members. Mr. Biden and Ms. Roberts must respond to discovery questions by May 12th, either by submitting the requested answers and documents or by stating objections explaining why they cannot provide them. The court has scheduled the trial for the child custody modification case in July.
What does this all mean for child support purposes?
From a family law attorney’s perspective, this situation is an interesting one because it ties together so many issues that are relevant to the world of child support. First, the father is seeking to reduce his child support obligation through the modification process. To proceed, he must show that a material and substantial change in circumstances has occurred for himself, the mother, or the child. Only then will a judge consider modifying the existing child support order. Even then, the judge would further need to find that the requested modification is in the best interests of the child.
Evaluating income in the Hunter Biden child support case
In Mr. Biden’s situation, the judge would need to take into consideration all the evidence regarding Mr. Biden’s income and likely compare that to the situation back in 2020 when an order for child support was first established. If Mr. Biden can successfully show that his income has decreased, then he may be able to get the child support reduction that he is seeking. Of course, if Arkansas is anything like Texas, he would need to further show that it is in the best interests of the child to have his child support decreased. When a parent reports no income, the court typically assigns them a minimum wage income to ensure they still contribute child support toward the child’s basic needs. However, the nature of his relationship with the child (or lack thereof) may also figure into the judge’s determination of best interests.
Getting to the bottom of Mr. Biden’s income requires thorough effort. When someone earns money from multiple sources, determining exact earnings and calculating net income becomes a complex task. His income may fluctuate significantly or be obscured by how and from where he gets paid. To uncover this, Ms. Roberts’s attorney must carefully craft discovery requests that pinpoint the necessary financial details. Discovery offers the best chance to confirm Mr. Biden’s income, especially since he is unlikely to share that information voluntarily without a court order.
Challenges in child support cases: underreported income
Sometimes a parent will attempt to undercount their income to give the impression that he should pay less in child support. Mr. Biden is accused of doing just that by the attorney for Ms. Roberts. In a more typical scenario, a parent might reduce their work hours or accept a lower-paying job to decrease their child support obligation. Though rare, some may even quit their job altogether to claim zero income. When a parent reports no income, the court typically assigns them a minimum wage income to ensure they still contribute child support toward the child’s basic needs. As a result, the parent must pay a minimal amount of child support to help cover the child’s basic monthly needs.
Mr. Biden’s claim for reduced child support weakens in light of his lifestyle and high-profile connections, especially given his father’s position. It’s reasonable to assume he holds substantial income-earning potential based on his background and network. On the other hand, a $20,000 monthly obligation is significant. If this case took place in Texas under the state’s standard child support guidelines, the court would likely presume Mr. Biden’s net monthly income to be $100,000, based on having one child in the case.
Income verification in the Hunter Biden child support case
In any event, the key to this case would seem to be the lawyer for Ms. Roberts getting his hands on documents that can verify the income of Mr. Biden. This could be easier said than done for all the reasons that we went over earlier. Finding a person’s income and then being able to search high and low for documentation to prove this income is difficult. Tax returns would seem to be the most direct way to find out this information, but Mr. Biden may object to turning over something like that.
This is certainly a case worth following in the upcoming months. The judge has expressed a desire for the case to progress steadily, requiring both Ms. Roberts and Mr. Biden’s attendance at future hearings. It’s reasonable to assume that Mr. Biden is keen on seeing the case through, especially if he genuinely finds the $20,000 monthly child support amount unmanageable. In doing so, he would likely need to provide financial documentation, demonstrating that the significant change in circumstances lies in his decreased income and that the current child support amount is unjustified and not in his daughter’s best interests, as in the Hunter Biden child support case.
In conclusion, the Hunter Biden case highlights how even high-profile individuals are not immune to the complexities of family law, particularly when it comes to child support and parental responsibilities. At the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, we recognize the sensitive nature of these cases and provide thorough, unbiased legal representation with dedication and care. Whether you’re navigating a challenging custody dispute or a complex support matter, our team is here to guide you with the same level of professionalism and dedication shown in high-profile cases like the Hunter Biden case.
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