How do courts calculate child support?
Child custody battles can sometimes be long and drawn out, especially if both parents want to be awarded full custody of their child. Even after courts make a decision about child custody, the battle may not be over. When a parent is awarded custody, it is common for the courts to also require that one parent pay child support. Just as there were factors examined to determine which parent will receive child custody, there are factors that need to be examined in order for courts to calculate how much to award in child support.
Child support laws vary from state to state. These laws may differ, but there are still a certain criteria that most states use to determine how much will be awarded in child support. The following factors help child support to be calculated by the courts:
- The income of both parents.
- Whether or not the parent is able to make child support payments.
- The child’s financial needs.
- The standard of living the child maintained prior to the separation.
It is important for parents to remember that just because they feel their child deserves a certain amount in child support it does not mean that it will be awarded to them. Courts examine these factors to come to a fair amount that will allow the child to continue to live a good life and still be well taken care of financially by the parent making payments. Parents who are not pleased with the amount that they are awarded may request that the child support order be modified. Again, courts will need to examine a number of factors before deciding whether child support will be increased.
If you have been awarded custody of your child and believe your child deserves a certain amount in payments for child support, an attorney may be available to assist you. It is not fair for your child to have to suffer financially because you and his or her other parent have separated. Every child deserves to be properly taken care of and if there is a certain amount of support that will allow that to be done, it is only fair.
