Child Support

Computing a presumptive level of child support in Florida is easy. In general, a formula is applied which has as its primary elements the net incomes of the parents, the costs of health insurance and child care expenses, and the overnights each child spends with each parent. The hard part is determining the parents’ true earnings, especially if a parent is self employed, earns irregular income, or has personal expenses paid by a business. Sometimes a parent might be voluntarily unemployed or underemployed. Additionally, because there is a relationship between the amount of time-sharing and the amount of child support, there is an unhealthy incentive for a parent to use their children as financial pawns to increase or decrease a child support award.

Moreover, computing the presumptive level of child support does not end the matter, for a court may deviate from the presumptive level of child support for any number of reasons ranging from the age and special needs of a child, to a parent’s other reasonable and necessary support obligations or debt load and the total assets available to the parents.

With regard to child support issues, the best interests of the child should always be kept at the forefront. Nonetheless, it is also important to ensure that your rights are not being violated and that the terms being laid out are fair. We at the Law Offices of Robert L. Bogen are committed to these principles, and to the protection of your rights as well as your children’s best interests.