Child Support » Jones Law, LLC - "There is no substitute for character."

Child Support

Child Support - An Overview

Enforcing the obligation to pay child support is a national priority. Federal legislation and state laws exist to make enforcement and collection of child support easier. Each state has particular guidelines for establishing child support and there are various methods to recover the support you are owed. If you are ending a marriage, are already divorced or are trying to hold your child's other parent legally responsible, it is important to consult with a family law attorney.

Read on to learn more about the child support basics.

Basics
Guidelines
Payments
Modification
Enforcement
Termination

Child Support Basics

A child's biological parents have a legal obligation to financially support the child whether the parents were ever married or not. That obligation lasts until the child reaches "the age of majority" or becomes emancipated. Emancipation means the child is beyond the control, custody and care of the parents and can include such events as the child marrying, becoming economically self-sufficient or by court order.

When parents divorce or are not married, the parent who does not live with the child is often obligated to pay child support. Support is owed whether the child lives with his or her other parent or a third party, and whether or not the custodial parent can afford to support the child without help. In Missouri, support may be owed even if the parents share custody.

Child Support Guidelines

Family courts use the guidelines to establish the amount of support. Missouri allows courts to make adjustments to the amount the state guidelines indicate in cases of exceptional circumstances. This may include a child with special medical needs or other disabilities.

Support guidelines in Missouri are based on a model. The formula is used to establish the amount of support, although the Court considers the needs of the child and the income of the parents. Provisions for medical costs and insurance are generally added to the basic amount suggested by the state guidelines.

Income Shares Formula: the most widely used model. The court adds the net or gross income of the parents together and then considers the support needs of the child. The court then divides the responsibility to pay for the support proportionately based on the income of the parents. More commonly known is Missouri as the Form 14.

The courts look at a variety of sources to determine the paying parent's income and ability to pay. Income may include wages and the following items:

Investments, stocks and pensions; Government payments and benefits like disability, social security, veteran benefits and unemployment payments; Goods and services that come with a job or are given by family members, friends or new spouses; Gifts and inheritances; Income from rental property; Overtime, seasonal or part-time second jobs; Bonuses; Lottery winnings; Trust income

In determining the amount to be paid by a parent for support of the child and the period during which the duty of support is owed, the court shall consider all relevant facts, including:

(1) The needs of the child;

(2) The standard of living and circumstances of the parents;

(3) The relative financial means of the parents;

(4) The earning ability of the parents;

(5) The need and capacity of the child for education, including higher education;

(6) The age of the child;

(7) The financial resources and earning capacity of the child;

(8) The responsibility of the parents for the support of other children;

(9) The value of the services contributed by the custodial parent; and

(10) The standard of living and circumstances of the family prior to the dissolution of marriage of parents or during the period of cohabitation of the parents

Child Support Payments

Support payments generally begin when a family court enters an order requiring payment of support. In divorce, child support may be ordered on a temporary basis at an early hearing following the filing of the initial request for divorce. The parties may agree on the amount of both temporary and permanent support. Otherwise, the amount of support will be determined by the court as part of its overall decision in the divorce, and a permanent order for child support will be entered.

When parents have never married, the custodial parent may petition for support from the other parent. As part of that proceeding, DNA tests may be ordered to establish paternity.

Payments are due at specific times each month. In most states, the paying parent may be ordered to make their payments to a child support registry. The registry forwards the payment to the custodial parent and keeps track of payments that are made.

Modifying Child Support Awards

Either parent may ask the court to recalculate the amount of support if the parent can show a substantial change in circumstances. Parents receiving child support may be able to increase the support they receive when the paying parent's income goes up, especially if the current amount of support ordered is not sufficient to meet their child's needs. Support may also be increased because of a child's specific needs for things like tutoring, medical treatment or therapy.

Paying parents may be able to decrease the amount of future support payments if they face the loss of a job, a reduction in income or when the custodial parent's income increases. Federal law prohibits states from forgiving past due child support payments. Courts are reluctant to reduce child support awards and paying parents may have an earning capacity imputed to them whether or not their actual earnings reflect that amount.

Child support orders can be modified to meet changed needs in the parents' or child's life. Either parent can petition the court for a modification. The court will then determine whether there has been a significant and material change in circumstances either concerning the child's needs or the payor parent's ability to financially meet his or her obligations.

Change in Employment

One type of change in circumstances that may warrant a modification of child support is the loss of a job. If the payor parent was fired or laid off, his or her support obligations may be temporarily lowered or stopped until the parent can find new employment.

However, if the parent elected to take a lower paying job, the court may be reluctant to modify the amount of child support. Parents with child support obligations who voluntarily leave high paying jobs for lower paying ones may be viewed suspiciously. If the change was not done in good faith, the court may believe the parent did it as a means to lower the support payments. In such a case, the court may decide to set the amount of child support according to the parent's earning capacity rather than actual income.

Conversely, if the payor parent accepts new employment with a higher salary, is awarded a bonus or receives other forms of increased compensation, the parent receiving the support payments may seek an increase in support.

Remarriage

Jurisdictions differ in their treatment of child support obligations when the payor parent remarries. In some jurisdictions, courts will reduce the amount of the payments when the parent remarries and has additional children. In these states, the courts consider the total support obligations to all of the children, and not just to the children from the prior marriage.

Other circumstances also may warrant a modification to a child support order, such as:

(1) Disability of the parent or child;

(2) Heath expenses of the parent or child;

(3) Educational expenses;

(4) Temporary economic hardship of the parent;

(5) Increased cost of living;

The parents cannot act independently to change the amount of child support. The parties must petition the court which will then determine whether the support order will be modified. Parents who decide to stop paying support or who pay less than required may be held in contempt of court or face other penalties. Even if a parent has lost his or her job and has no income, he or she must go to court to request a modification of the child support order.

Enforcement of Support Awards

Parents must meet their child support obligations. Those who do not pay, pay less than required or pay sporadically may be subject to contempt proceedings, fines and even jail time.When child support is owed but not paid, a variety of measures exist to collect past due amounts and protect against future non-payments. Missouri has laws that allow a family court judge to suspend professional or business licenses, revoke driver's and recreational licenses, require payment of future owed sums in advance or place non-paying parents in jail.

All states also have offices of Child Support Enforcement. These state agencies are supported by the federal government and are charged with locating parents who owe child support payments and enforcing those orders against them.

Additionally, when the amount of support owed exceeds a certain level and the responsible parent lives in a different state, the federal government has the right to bring criminal charges against that parent under the federal Child Support Recovery Act.

Contempt Proceedings

Contempt proceedings are one of the most common actions taken against parents who fail to pay child support. During contempt proceedings, the payor parent is charged with failing to comply with a court order. These proceedings can be civil or criminal. In civil proceedings, the parent can be ordered to serve an indefinite period in jail until he or she pays the support owed. Upon paying the back support, the parent is released from jail. In criminal contempt proceedings, the parent is sentenced to a set amount of time in jail as punishment for failing to comply with the order. The parent cannot pay the back support to shorten his or her jail sentence.

The key to holding a parent in contempt of a child support order is finding that the parent has the ability to pay child support but willfully failed to do so. Parents who do not have the ability to pay the support may have a successful defense to a contempt proceeding if they can prove they genuinely could not pay.

Wage Garnishment

Parents who owe back support may be subject to wage garnishment. The court can order an employer to withhold a certain percentage out of an employee's paycheck each pay period to meet his or her child support obligations. Additionally, under federal law, employers must report the names of new employees to the state's new hire directory, which is used to help locate parents who are delinquent in child support payments. There is also a national registry which can be used to help locate parents who move out of state to seek employment. Tax refunds and lottery winnings also can be subject to garnishment.

Enforcing Child Support Orders Across State Lines

State governments and the federal government have taken action to punish those who cross state lines in hopes of escaping their support obligations. States are required to give full faith and credit to valid final court judgments issued in other states - including child support orders. Thus, parents cannot seek out a new jurisdiction to gain a more favorable child support award. Under the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA), the court who issued the child support order retains continuing exclusive jurisdiction - this means that if the parents seek to make changes to the original order or seek to have it enforced, they must petition the court that originally issued the order. UIFSA provides state courts with long-arm jurisdiction in case one parent relocates to another jurisdiction.

In an effort to reduce welfare costs, the federal government has passed legislation to criminalize willful failures to pay child support. Under the Child Support Recovery Act and the Deadbeat Parents Punishment Act, parents who fail to pay child support can face federal penalties, including fines and incarceration.

Termination of Child Support Payments

Many factors are taken into account in determining when child support payments will end. In some situations, it is as simple as the child reaching the age of majority. In others, payments may not end until the child has graduated from college.

In Missorui, unless the circumstances of the child manifestly dictate otherwise and the court specifically so provides, the obligation of a parent to make child support payments shall terminate when the child:

(1) Dies;

(2) Marries;

(3) Enters active duty in the military;

(4) Becomes self-supporting, provided that the custodial parent has relinquished the child from parental control by express or implied consent;

(5) Reaches age eighteen; or

(6) Reaches age twenty-one, unless the provisions of the child support order specifically extend the parental support order past the child's twenty-first birthday.

Disability

If the child is physically or mentally incapacitated from supporting himself and insolvent and unmarried, the court may extend the parental support obligation past the child's eighteenth birthday.

College

If when a child reaches age eighteen, the child is enrolled in and attending a secondary school program of instruction, the parental support obligation shall continue, if the child continues to attend and progresses toward completion of said program, until the child completes such program or reaches age twenty-one, whichever first occurs. If the child is enrolled in an institution of vocational or higher education not later than October first following graduation from a secondary school or completion of a graduation equivalence degree program and so long as the child enrolls for and completes at least twelve hours of credit each semester, not including the summer semester, at an institution of vocational or higher education and achieves grades sufficient to reenroll at such institution, the parental support obligation shall continue until the child completes his or her education, or until the child reaches the age of twenty-one, whichever first occurs. To remain eligible for such continued parental support, at the beginning of each semester the child shall submit to each parent a transcript or similar official document provided by the institution of vocational or higher education which includes the courses the child is enrolled in and has completed for each term, the grades and credits received for each such course, and an official document from the institution listing the courses which the child is enrolled in for the upcoming term and the number of credits for each such course. When enrolled in at least twelve credit hours, if the child receives failing grades in half or more of his or her courseload in any one semester, payment of child support may be terminated and shall not be eligible for reinstatement.

DISCLAIMER: This site and any information contained herein are intended for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. Seek competent legal counsel for advice on any legal matter.

BasicsGuidelinesPaymentsModificationEnforcementTerminationChild Support Basics