How child support is weighed when parents make varying incomes.
Disputes over the parenting of children are especially likely to occur when calculating the dollar amount of child support a parent should receive on behalf of his or her child. This is especially true for clients who are facing substantial disparities in incomes–where one parent has significantly more income than the other parent.
So, how exactly is child support calculated where one parent makes much more than the other? To simplify things, let’s take a look at the following example:
Paul and Sue have 1 child. Sue is a student and does not work. Paul, on the other hand, is a professional football player with a salary of $1.2 million at the time the child was born.
Although the precise calculations of child support are not always easy to predict, the structural baseline can often be anticipated. Meaning, it is likely that Paul is going to pay proportionally more in child support than Sue.
When calculating such support, the court may look at both Sue and Paul’s standard of living and consider what lifestyle is appropriate for the child under the circumstance. Thus, decisions of whether the child should attend private school, whether a parent should establish a college fund, what type of needs the child may have, and who will pay all medical and dental expenses will often come into play under a scenario similar to that of Paul and Sue’s.
If you have any questions related to child support, or require legal assistance in other areas of Family Law you may always contact Damien McKinney of The McKinney Law Group to discuss your case further. He can be reached by phone at 813-428-3400 or by e-mail at [email protected].