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In Texas family law, child support obligations often emerge as one of the most contentious issues. For many parents, the responsibility to pay a fixed amount of money each month for an extended period can feel burdensome. On the other hand, if you are the recipient of child support, relying on payments from the other parent can be challenging, especially if the relationship with them is strained. This dynamic can complicate the process of managing child support obligations, making it even more difficult to navigate the financial responsibilities and ensure the child’s needs are met effectively.
Child support aims to ensure that your child has everything they need for daily living. Child support is not a guarantee that your child is going to be able to live a specific lifestyle or be able to always have the finest things in life. Instead, child support is designed to balance the financial responsibilities between you and your co-parent. If your co-parent spends more time with your child, then that would likely mean that she also takes care of more bills and financial costs for your child.
Understanding Child Support: No Tracking, But Trust Matters
When you pay child support, you do so with the understanding that your co-parent is going to use that money to pay for necessary items on behalf of your child- food, shelter, clothing, school costs, and medical costs. There is no accounting available in a child support scenario. Many parents have asked if there’s a way to track how the other parent spends child support. Unfortunately, the answer is no. This lack of transparency about how the other parent uses the child support funds often frustrates many parents.
However, what you are ultimately doing when paying child support is paying the money directly to your child. Since your child cannot receive child support directly, your co-parent acts as an intermediary, handling essential costs on their behalf. To that extent, the more trust that you and your co-parent can build between one another, the better off you will be. There is nobody who will try to debate that raising a child with a co-parent is easy. Whether the issue is child support or child custody, effective communication between you and your co-parent will benefit both of you in the long run.
Child Support: Key Insights and How We Can Help
In today’s blog post from the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, we are going to discuss the ins and outs of child support. When dealing with a child custody and divorce case involving child support, it’s important to understand what to expect. Begin by managing your expectations regarding child support, as it aims to address your child’s needs but may not fully meet all your anticipations. Understand the logistics of child support by learning how courts calculate the amount, how they process payments, and how to manage adjustments or enforcement if modifications become necessary. Finally, we will introduce how the Office of the Attorney General plays a vital role when it comes to child support.
If you have any questions after reading 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 provide an excellent opportunity to learn about Texas family law and understand how different child support scenarios may impact your family.
Did you know that we post unique content about Texas family law every day? It’s true. Our blog is a great resource for you if you are just starting in the divorce or child custody process and have general questions that you need answering. Additionally, even if you have a specific area of the law that you would like to learn more about, the Law Office of Bryan has you covered. Bear in mind that if you have specific questions about your circumstances then you should reach out to one of our attorneys to schedule a free-of-charge consultation.
Child Support Guidelines- Texas Family Code
One of the most common questions that our family law attorneys receive about child support, especially from parents who are just beginning their child support case, is how much you can expect to pay or receive in child support. At the same time, there are ultimately many factors that go into a child support calculation. One of the most important pieces of information for you to have at your disposal is that there are guideline levels of child support as laid out in the Texas Family Code. These guidelines help parents and courts determine an appropriate level of child support in various situations.
These guidelines aim to assist parents and courts in determining appropriate child support levels across a wide range of scenarios. Their general applicability helps address various cases, but they may not cover unique or special circumstances. If you have specific situations that might affect child support calculations, consult an experienced family law attorney to ensure your individual needs are considered and that the support amount is fair and appropriate for you and your family.
Key Considerations for Noncustodial Parents
Of all the challenges associated with the guideline levels of child support in Texas, one of the most significant is determining the income of the paying parent. To make things clearer, the state of Texas refers to a parent who pays child support as a noncustodial parent. On the other hand, the parent who receives child support is the custodial parent. Noncustodial parents do have parental rights and duties but do not live with the child primarily. If you are the noncustodial parent, you are required to pay child support because the custodial parent spends more time with the child and covers a greater share of their expenses.
If you earn your income from a typical, 9-5 job then your income calculation probably will not be all that complicated. Once you figure out what your monthly gross income amounts to, you can take out things like health insurance and taxes to determine what your net monthly income is. This calculation will be used to ultimately determine how much you will be liable for in child support payments each month. This was an easy situation (relatively speaking) as far as determining net monthly income and then a monthly amount of child support that will need to be paid.
Irregular and Self-Employment Income in Child Support Cases
What makes the situation more complicated is when you have an irregular income or are self-employed. This is the far less predictable and simple method of earning an income you are going to need to be very intentional concerning how you calculate your income. The last thing you want is to be a parent who receives child support and you do not pursue every penny of income that your co-parent earns.
It is easier for a self-employed person to potentially hide income than it is for a person who earns an income from a company or government job. If you are concerned that your co-parent may try to hide his income, then working with an experienced family attorney is essential. The attorneys with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan can help you uncover rocks and other potential hiding places where your co-parent may be storing extra cash that should be going towards child support each month.
Potential warning signs that your co-parent may be able to hide their income (at least to an extent) is that he is either self-employed, have an irregular income, or both. Imagine a scenario where you must track down paystubs from a corporate job, rental/investment income from a property owned across the country, as well as other streams of income that he has from appreciating assets that you were not even aware of even a few months ago. These are some of the challenges that you will need to meet head-on in your child support case to ensure that your child receives the correct and fair amount of support.
How do multiple children from different relationships figure into a child support calculation?
One often overlooked factor in calculating child support is paying support when you have children from other relationships. For example, if you have two children involved in the current family court case, this can affect the calculation of your child support obligations. In addition, you have three other children for whom you also pay child support. This is a situation that you need to submit before the court to receive credit for the money you pay in child support each month for those children. You can receive a reduction of 2.5% per child who is not before the court but for whom you pay support. Three children not before the court mean that you could receive a reduction of approximately 7.5% in your child support “bill.”
When does child support come to an end?
Your obligation to pay child support comes to an end when either your child graduates from high school or turns 18 years old, whichever occurs later. This is an important distinction that you need to be clear on. Our office has run into multiple situations where a parent has misinterpreted this portion of a child support order and stopped paying child support at the earlier of these two dates. Sometimes, a simple letter, email, or phone call can resolve the issue. However, if you do not communicate with your co-parent, you might end up facing a large child support bill due to misunderstandings.
Child reaching adulthood
There are exceptions to this general rule, however. Bear in mind that child support comes to an end once your child reaches adulthood. However, this may not be an appropriate endpoint for child support purposes for all your children. For example, if your child suffers from a disability, then he may never be able to live independently. As a result, you and your co-parent may agree to extend child support until your child turns 25 to allow you all some extra time to figure out what the best course of action will be concerning your child. Paying child support for this longer period allows your co-parent to keep their heads above water while paying for the day-to-day needs of your child.
High earner co-parent
Another relevant factor would be if you earn an income that is far higher than the average person’s. We have all heard about celebrities paying extremely high amounts of child support. The main reason why celebrities pay so much more than most people in child support is due to their earning an income that is so much greater than the average person’s. If your co-parent is a high earner, then you should discuss that with your attorney. Depending upon the extent of their wealth or income, you may be due a higher than guideline level of child support.
Child support modifications
Let’s consider a situation where you or your co-parent believe that a modification or change in the amount of child support paid each month needs to occur. A modification in the context of Texas family law issues can occur if you can show that a material and substantial change in circumstances has occurred between you, your co-parent, or your child since the last time that you were in court. This material and substantial change must have occurred, and the proposed modification(s) must also be in the best interests of your children.
Change in income
One of the most common reasons why parents will ask for a child support modification, either an increase or a decrease in child support- is due to a change in income. Whether that change in income is an increase or a decrease, you will need to be able to show a court why the proposed modification is either based on or not. If you oppose the proposed increase in child support, then you need to be able to show a court why the modification is off base.
Your income may not have increased to the extent that your co-parent contends that it has. Or, while you may have seen an increase in income, you may have incurred additional expenses in your life which are out of your control and more than cancel out the increase in income.
Change in custody
Another interesting scenario that may have arisen involves a change in custody. Let’s say that five years ago you and your spouse got a divorce, and your spouse was named as the custodial parent. However, one year ago you asked the court to modify your final decree of divorce to name you as the custodial parent. The court agreed to do so, and you are now the custodial parent. As we mentioned earlier in today’s blog post, a custodial parent does not pay child support typically. With that said, a change in custody and conservatorship regarding your child almost surely is a material and substantial change sufficient to end your child support obligation outright (not including any back child support that you may owe).
Role of the Office of the Attorney General
Finally, we wanted to mention the role of the Office of the Attorney General regarding child support. The OAG handles the payment of child support from you to your co-parent or vice versa. After your child support case, you can set yourself up with an account through the OAG’s website to track child support payments and keep up to date with child support overall. The noncustodial parent’s paycheck typically gets withheld for child support payments. The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) processes these payments and deposits them into the custodial parent’s bank account.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, child support obligations can be one of the most challenging aspects of family law in Texas. Whether you are the paying parent or the recipient, managing these financial responsibilities requires navigating complex emotions and practical concerns. Understanding how child support is calculated and enforced can alleviate some of these difficulties. Seeking advice from an experienced family law attorney can offer clarity and ensure the fair and effective management of your child support obligations. With the right guidance, both parties can move forward with greater confidence, stability, and a focus on the well-being of the child.
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