Child support is a key issue in almost every divorce involving children. In a lot of cases it seems to be the make or break point of a co parenting relationship and any possible settlement.
Originally the idea was for the court to determine a fair child support amount based out of thin air. Experienced divorce attorneys would then have to litigate the children’s expenses consistently and the child support amounts tended to be fairly inconsistent.
To solve this issue, the child support laws have been changed to reflect the necessity of the Form 14. Form 14 is the child support work sheet that must accompany any child support order by a court. The child support amount the form renders may be found to be unjust and inappropriate and thus deviated from.
Divorce Court Judges employ a variety of methods to determine what they feel is an appropriate level of child support and what is “unjust and inappropriate” and should be deviated from. An experienced attorney will be able to navigate this process and help you understand the likely areas in which your child support is to fall. Here is a scenario: The opposing side, who will be the sole custodian, is requesting $1200 a month in child support. Divorce Client feels this amount is simply more than his two children need per month and he should not have to pay it, the mother should pay more of the expenses, and $400 is the amount he will offer. The form 14, once reasonably filled out and all proper additions are in the form states a child support amount of $1000 to be paid per month.
Knowing the correct amount of child support to pursue is crucial in a matter such as this. Aiming too low will end up in unnecessary litigation and extra unnecessary attorney fees. Aiming too high is obviously problematic. Child support can often be similar to the story of Goldilocks and her search for porridge that was just right.
This is not to say that an aggressive approach is not necessary. But there are limits to how aggressive you can be and there must be a bright line drawn between aggressively seeking fair child support payments and arguing for positions that are certainly not going to be ordered by a Divorce Judge.
Please call 8167019387 to speak with an experienced divorce attorney today.