Whether you are involved in a divorce case or a paternity case, if you have children under the age of 18, child support, both as to the amount and as to who pays who, must be established. The law requires parents to contribute to supporting their children, regardless of the parent’s income level. A parent cannot give away this right because the right belongs to the child. Florida law provides guidelines for calculating child support based principally on the following factors:

1. both parties’ combined net monthly incomes
2. the number of children involved
3. the number of overnight time sharing each parent spends with the children.

Costs of daycare, aftercare and health insurance payments are also factored into the calculations. Although tables with these guidelines are found in the Florida statutes, the actual calculations become more involved. For example, a parent may be unemployed or underemployed; health issues may be a factor; a parent may need to stay home to attend to a child’s special needs.

The Law Office of Cindy S. Vova, P.A. helps parents understand the variables of child support, decipher these intangible factors, and helps families move forward in assisting either the paying spouse or the receiving spouse, as the case may be, that the support established serves the needs of both the mother’s and the father’s household in caring for the children’s needs.

Once a support number is established, our firms assists, as necessary, in using legally available methods to ensure support is paid and received, including income deduction orders, where the support is automatically deducted from the paying parent’s check, establishing payments, setting up payments through the Florida State Disbursement Unit and the Florida Department of Revenue, and using garnishment procedures. When appropriate, our firm also directs you to governmental agencies who may, in certain cases, provide you with free services relative to child support.

Even after it is established by a court, child support is always subject to modification, depending on the times and the circumstances. Our firm can help you evaluate if and when you may wish to reevaluate either the support you receive or the support you pay. Please see our section on modification for more details regarding the child support modification process.