When preparing for the future with children, it is important to have an idea of how much child support you may be entitled to receive or obligated to pay out. Child support in Florida is calculated in accordance with Florida Statute 61.30. The formula in place does not leave room for the parties to simply agree upon a number they see fit. This is because child support in Florida is viewed as the non-waivable right of the child.
Many people come into our office and assume that if the number of overnights with their children is split into a 50/50 time sharing schedule, that the child support magically drops to $0.00. That is not the case. This formula takes into account the income of the parties, the amount of overnights with each parent, child care payments, health insurance for the child and who receives the dependency tax exemption. There are several online child support calculators for parties to familiarize themselves with how the formula works.
If one party is not currently working, the court has the authority to impute at least full-time minimum wage onto a party who is not disabled. If a party had typically made more and decided to quit or change careers where their income has dropped substantially, you may argue that the party is voluntarily under-employed and should have their previous income imputed for child support purposes.
If you have any questions regarding the modification of or calculation of child support in Florida, contact our experts at
407-278-6718