Child Support Lawyers in Foley, AL

In Foley, AL you may request child support by filing form CS-02, a Petition for Support. The Alabama Administrative Office of Courts also has forms for child support guidelines and general information, allowing custodial and non-custodial parents to understand what is expected of them.

Factors Affecting Child Support

While child support does follow a standard order, several factors can decrease or increase the amount owed. These factors include:

• Child support owed to other children or other children the parents are currently supporting
• Required alimony payments
• The cost of work-related childcare
• Who pays for the child’s health insurance
• How much is paid for health insurance
• The cost of transportation if visitation occurs at a location far from one parent
• Assets received on behalf of the child

This is why it’s so important to talk to a child support attorney in Foley, AL. If you don’t understand the variety of factors that affect child support, you may overestimate or underestimate the amount you receive or owe. If your child attends a local daycare facility like Cradle 2 Crayons or Kid Plus Child Development Center so the custodial parent is able to work, the non-custodial parent may owe substantially more.

It’s important to note that although these are the most common factors, the court has much more discretion when it comes time to order child support. They can use other factors that they consider relevant.

Establishing Child Support in Foley, AL

Both parents are obligated to support their children financially. The child support process and requirements are the same whether you are going through a divorce, or you were never married to your child’s other parent.

Note that visitation is not required for child support payments. Even if a parent decides not to have any relationship with their child, they still must provide adequate financial assistance. On the same note, up-to-date child support payments are not required for a parent to have visitation with their child.

The court will look at the basic calculation to figure out how much is owed. Both parents’ incomes are considered. From there, the court decides how much financial support the child is owed by both parents.

Child support is generally based on how much parenting time each parent has, although the court can also follow a standard calculation if the parents share a traditional custody schedule. The total support amount owed is multiplied by each parent’s percentage. The amount owed by the person with the lower amount is subtracted from the amount owed by the parent who owes more.

Factors Affecting Child Support

Beyond parenting time, there are many other factors that may shift court-ordered support in one direction or the other. If either party asks the court to adjust child support and provides evidence supporting their claim, the court may do so. Relevant factors include:

• The cost of transportation if the parents live far apart and one parent pays the full cost of transportation
• College education expenses occurring before the child turns 19
• Money received on behalf of the child
• Significant medical needs of the child
• Extra expenses, such as expensive extracurriculars, private school tuition, or other activities
• Anything that may relate to the child’s best interests

Modifying a Child Support Order

After child support is established, there may be reasons to modify it. As is the case with initial child support orders, the court has significant discretion when it comes to modification requests. They may change the order if there is a material change in either party’s circumstances. Relevant reasons to change child support may include:

• The paying parent spending much more time with the child
• The party receiving child support earning a higher income
• The party paying child support earns a higher or lower-income
• Cost of living changes
• Significant financial hardship on the part of the paying parent
• Changes in child support laws that affect your case

As you may imagine, asking someone to receive less child support or pay more child support can lead to tension in the co-parenting relationship. Talking to an attorney beforehand can help you know what to say and how to handle the situation.

For example, what if you want to modify child support, but the circumstances haven’t actually changed enough to warrant a modification? Talking to your lawyer first would give you this information before you talk to the other parent, saving you an uncomfortable conversation.

Why Choose Coumanis & York?

Negotiating child support can be a tricky part of co-parenting, but you have to remember that child support isn’t about either parent. It’s the right of the child. At Coumanis & York, our goal is to secure a fair outcome for you, which means doing what is best for your child.

Child support calculations can be very complex. In today’s gig economy, few people have just one job where they receive an hourly wage and set hours or an annual salary. A lot of people supplement their income with gig work or earn all of their income as freelancers.

This makes it incredibly difficult to calculate child support, as income may fluctuate each month, be seasonal in nature, or otherwise be unreliable. When this happens, it’s crucial that you work with a Foley child support lawyer who can help you secure a fair child support order and do what is right for your child.

Additionally, these discussions with your co-parent can become heated. Neither party wants to struggle financially, so it’s not uncommon for the paying parent to feel like they’re overpaying while the custodial parent feels like they’re being cheated out of support. In these situations, it is crucial that you have a strong advocate who’s ready to stand up for you. Without your own attorney, you run the risk of being railroaded into a child support agreement that leaves you without the money you need to get by.

We can also help with modifications. Perhaps your child support order is too restrictive for you, consuming all of your free income and limiting what you are able to do with your child when you have them. Maybe your co-parent is paying too little, and you’re struggling to meet your child’s needs and pay for their activities.

Either way, your child deserves fair and adequate support from both parents. With Coumanis & York, you can make sure they receive it. If you need help getting an initial child support order or negotiating a modification in your current order, let’s talk about your needs. Our team is ready to take a look at your child’s needs, and the finances of both parents, and figure out what your next step is.

Contact Our Team to Get Started

The sooner you get help from a child support lawyer in Foley, AL, the more quickly we can get your case in front of a judge. You deserve fair child support for your child and all of their needs, whether that’s through an initial order or a modification. Let’s sit down and talk about your options now. Call our Daphne office at 251-990-3083, call our Mobile office at 251-431-7272, or contact us online to set up a time.