The Florida State Guidelines For Determining The Amount Of Child Support?

By Author: Grant Gisondo
Total Articles: 10
Comment this article

Before looking at the state guidelines for determining the amount of child support in the State of Florida, it is important to understand the actual concept of child support as Florida Family Law defines it. "Child support is the court-ordered obligation of the financial support for the care, maintenance, training, and education of a child." The term "child" refers to a child's age from birth to eighteen, longer if they are mentally or physically disabled and cannot support themselves. While there is no policing system in place to monitor how child support money is spent, the court expects the parent or custody caregiver to use child support money on legitimate expenses such as food, clothing, education, and needed supplies, and not on themselves personally. When proven the obligation of child support is theirs, either parent can be ordered to pay child support. A third party ordered to become the legal guardian of the minor child, such as a grandparent or caregiver, can also be the recipient of child support. Parents of the minor child do not have to have been married to each other or even have lived together. Parents are parents, ...
... and sometimes the court will require a paternity test to determine exactly who the father is.

The Florida State Guidelines determine the amount of child support to be paid. (To read the entire Florida law involving child support, go online and find Florida child support law 39.01.) in summary, the Florida State Guidelines base the amount of child support to be paid on the parent's income, the number of children involved, and custody rights. For example, while Florida tries to have minor children cared for equally, termed joint custody with parental timesharing, sometimes one parent will have a minor child more days and nights than the other. The number of overnights will make a difference in the amount of child support ordered. Only in the rare case of where the child will be spending the same amount of time with each parent and both parents make the same amount of money will no child support be ordered. Determinations such as medical and special needs will also be considered when setting child support.

Time can change things. This is true in most families, so Florida Family Court allows a parent to return to court to ask for a modification of the amount of child support. (Note that parents may not make changes to their child support without a revised court order signed by a judge) To have a successful modification, there must be a material and substantial change such as terminal illness or winning the lottery. Too, the change must be one that did not exist before the original order and was not anticipated to exist following the order.

As each case is different, it is wise to seek professional legal advice from a Family Law attorney before going to court. Judges, while usually staying within Florida law guidelines, will sometimes make exceptions. In Florida, the Family Law Courts have a motto "in the best interest of the child," and this isdefinitely seen in rulings involving child support.

Grant J. Gisondo is the founder of Grant J. Gisondo, P.A. to focus his practice on family and marital law with offices in West Palm Beach serving Palm Beach County, Martin County, Saint Lucie County, Broward County, Miami-Dade County, Hillsborough and Orange County. Grant J. Gisondo. P.A. is a Board Certified Family Attorney in Palm Beach Gardens FL