Florida Child Support

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Child support is a significant matter in divorce. You may be the payer or the receiver of the child support; but the support amount must be spent to ensure a health life for your children. Your divorce is sure to bring some lifestyle changes for all the family members, including the children. Parents as elders can manage themselves and get adjusted to the changes. But children are likely to suffer most as they experience the pain of loosing one parent. Moreover the time and money required to raise the children get reduced and this can adversely affect the standard of living of the children. Thus child subsidy laws and rules are laid down in most of the nations of the world. The USA, one of the top divorce-seeking countries in the world, has chalked varied rules for its fifty states, in this context. Florida is not an exception. The child support amount in Florida divorce is calculated taking into account a number of important factors. This amount provided by the non-custodial parent is used by the other parent to meet basic requirements like clothing, food, medical expenses and any specific need.

The guidelines related to child maintenance in Florida take into account the following points:

• The child care and health care expenses
• The income of the father and the mother
• The standard of living, and meeting other requirements of the child

How is Child Support in Florida Divorce calculated?

As per the guidelines, a table has been prepared from which the child support amount is decided. This table has been partially shown below. All figures are in USD.

You can get calculators on various websites related to Florida divorce. You have to enter the amount of the monthly expenses and the number of children and calculate. This simple process will help you get an idea of the support amount, although this amount may vary from what the court will decide during the hearing.

Enforcement of Child Support Orders

Some of the methods used for enforcing support are as follows:

• Approaching the court with the case that the parent has not observed the court order
• Placing a hold on bank accounts and withdrawing money from them
• Making a report to credit agencies regarding past support due
• Placing liens on any property of the parent like boat, car etc
• Issuing orders to the employer of the parent to subtract the support payments from the paychecks
• Extracting support payment from worker's or unemployment compensation
• If the lottery winnings in Florida are more than 600 USD, then using them for support
• Utilizing tax refunds for past support due
• Taking IRS (Internal Revenue Service) tax refunds
• Suspending the driver license, of the spouse, in Florida
• Intimating the parent if they have missed any payment
• Collaborating with the court to issue a 'writ' (a.k.a. arrest warrant)

Pertinent points regarding Modification of Child Support in Florida Divorce

• In case of support payments, both the custodial as well as non custodial parent is empowered to request a review of the relevant orders.
• A review may mean an increment as well as decrement.
• The CSE (Child Support Enforcement) initiates the action for increment or decrement of child support.
• The child maintenance order can be modified when there has been a substantial alteration in the circumstances of the parents. Now, the difference between the proposed amount and present amount needs to be minimum 50 USD or 15 percent per month (whichever is more, is considered). In such a condition, it is possible to file a petition in the court for modification.
• Change in circumstances may happen when there is a loss of job, increase or decrease in children's expenses, availability of health insurance or a child becomes emancipated.
• One can contact the local child support office to request for change in child subsidy. Some cases are interstate ones. Hence, it is essential to have coordination between the CSE and the support agency in the other state. In case any court in this state has not issued the order, the CSE makes a request to the other state to consider probable alteration of the order. The other state's policies and laws in this regard would decide the outcome of the proposed modification.

This is a complete overview of child support in Florida divorce. You must take note of the guidelines that are relevant in your case. To get specific information, you must consult your attorney.

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