Child Support

When a child is involved in a dispute between parents, the goal for everyone involved is to ensure the child is not being neglected in any way. This includes the money the child is going to need in order to survive and thrive in the world. For this reason, Florida has very specific child support laws in place to protect children. Despite the best of intentions by the state, there are times when legal advice about child support is needed, which is where Alfred Marten can help.

There are several situations in which one parent may need legal representation for their child support needs. For example:

• When one parent refuses to pay child support
• The paying parent wants to be sure the child support is being used for the child
• To have child support recalculated

In these situations, having a lawyer to help navigate the many rules and procedures regarding child support can be the one way to avoid feeling overwhelmed.

With any child support case, there are several factors the court will take into consideration to determine just how much should be paid and which parent should be paying support. In the state of Florida, the idea is to do what is best for the child, as his or her needs comes first. Some things the court will consider are:

• Who the child spends most of his or her time with and which parent is providing the most care for the child
• The incomes of both parents
• The average cost of raising a child in that area, along with any direct costs associated with the child such as medical issues or the like
• Any special circumstances of the parents or the child that need to be considered

​Child support is meant to help ensure your child is well cared for, even if the child is not living in the same house with both parents. It is not only a requirement that parents financially care for their child, but a parent should have the desire to do so. If you are struggling to make payments, or if you are having issues with a parent paying, give Alfred Marten a call.