Most Popular Resource: State Specific Child Support Handbooks (Download Now) It will focus on the rights each father, mother and child has under certain laws, situations, and circumstances, and how child support is calculated using the official state child support guidelines.

How to Handle Unpaid Child Support When the Responsible Person Dies - If the former spouse dies, and that person is responsible for child support, whether arrearages, or current, or future child support payments, there can be recovery against the deceased person’s estate...

The Basics of Child Support - The family court system of your state has, above all else, a responsibility to make sure the children of divorcing couples do not suffer needless financial and emotional harm. Therefore child support payments from one parent to the other, or some other way of ensuring the children’s financial needs are met, are required for a settlement to be approved...

Divorced Parents - Who Pays College Tuition? - New Jersey courts generally view a college education as a necessity, and the cost of college as the responsibility of the parents, not the student. Parents who are seeking a divorce when their child is in college or entering college may be able to have the same court deal with the issue of who pays college tuition at the time of their divorce...

Tossing Out the Child Support Guidelines - When it comes to calculating child support, many states have Child Support Guidelines which provide divorce mediators like myself with some basic rules on how best to proceed. But what happens when those rules don’t exactly work for a client couple?...

Child Support Conversations with Your Ex - For divorcing couples with children, the topic of child support can sometimes turn into a contentious battle. And usually cause the most disagreement between ex-spouses

Child Support and Taxes - Will the fiscal cliff changes affect your child support payments? As divorce mediators, we can tell you - the short answer is probably, but not quite yet. And having a clear support agreement in place will minimize any potential problems...

Beyond Child Support - College Funding for Children in Divorce - In a pair of studies that looked at parental support for higher education for their children, it was discovered that (1) 29% of divorced parents assisted their children in college versus 88% of intact families

Should You Let Late Child Support Payments Affect Visitation Rights? - If you have custody of your kids, but your ex gets visitation, it may be tempting to withhold these rights if child support is late. After all, it may seem unfair that your ex gets the privilege of spending time with the kids without helping you out financially

Modifying Child Support After Job Loss - It is understandable if you cannot pay as much in child support after you lose your job. The court will likely be able to modify the amount that you are ordered to pay, but you cannot expect this to happen without some help

7 Helpful Tips for Negotiating a Child Support Agreement - There are certain guidelines that govern the amount of child support a non-custodial parent must pay to their former spouse. While this is certainly the norm, there are certain situations and scenarios in which a couple might deviate from the guidelines and a different amount of support may be agreed upon...

The IRS Child Contingency Rule Unplugged - Allocating support payments between child support and alimony is one of many tax-planning opportunities in divorce, but the structure must be done with great care...

Child Support Modification - Child support modification is the process we use to recalculate child support due to a qualifying event some of which are outlined below...

Is the Other Parent Getting the Advantage in Your Child/Spousal Support Order? 30 Things You can do to Turn the Tide NOW! - Going through a family law case is agonizing emotionally, taxing financially, complicated, confusing, and expensive, regardless of whether you and your spouse are getting along or at each other's throats, whether you have an attorney (or attorneys) or not, how much education you have, or how much money or how many children you have...

Enforcement of a Support Order - Whether achieved by a judge's ruling or an agreement at the end of the case a Final Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage will be entered by the judge. That paper will govern the rights and obligations of the parties. If minor children are involved it must contain provisions regarding child support...

Your Passport: A Privilege to Those Who Pay Child Support - Deadbeats who owe court ordered child support have another incentive to pay their arrears. Effective October 1, 2006, Federal law prohibits the issuance or renewal of a U.S. passport to anyone with child support arrears of $2,500.00 or more and allows the government to revoke or limit previously issued passports to such individuals...

Child Support - Why Don't People Pay - As a mediator, I work a lot with divorcing, separating and never married couples who, for the best interests of their children, must agree on a child support amount that makes for both of them...

The Bad Economy is Forcing Many Divorced Spouses to Try to Reduce Their Alimony and Child Support Payments - Absolutely. In this day and age the family courts are swamped with Lepis motions that are requesting to reduce alimony and child support payments...

Child Support Calculation - In cases of a separation or divorce where child custody is being disputed, the divorce decree will often include a child support order. The child support order typically defines the frequency and the amount of child support payment that one parent, who is generally the noncustodial parent, has to make to the other parent, who is generally the custodial parent, for the support of their minor child...

Techniques for Discovering Unreported Income for Divorce - This article discusses relatively simple techniques that can be used to uncover the practice of some business owners of fraudulently reporting less gross receipts than were actually received, thereby reporting less than accurate net income (gross receipts less business expenses equals the net income earned)...

Real Estate Investors and Support Calculations - Real estate investors create a unique situation in the determination of income available for support due to the nature of their business. To understand how to determine their gross income available for support, one needs to understand how the business of real estate investing operates...

Contempt for Failure to Pay Child Support - This is one of the most frequently raised issues that arise in matrimonial practice. Many people don't understand that when a judge makes an order for child support he is creating custom-made law just for you to follow...

The Application of Child Support Interest - It is my experience that most attorneys do not know what this actually means to our everyday practice which may be due to the fact that there is no case law or a specific statute which explains how this is interest is to be applied. This article will address several maxims to follow in your practice; interest is mandatory, each installment of current support due is a separate judgment in itself, interest accrues each day, and payments made to reduce or satisfy the unpaid amounts must be applied to interest first...

FAQs About Child Support - According to Ohio law, a biological parent of a child, a man determined to be the natural father of a child pursuant to law, an adoptive parent, a parent who acknowledged paternity on a child's birth certificate or a parent who acknowledged paternity in probate court has a duty to pay child support. This is in addition to the parental duty of support imposed upon married persons by Ohio law...

The Determination of Child Support - It is the law that both parents contribute to the support of children that they bring into this world. New Jersey, similar to most states, have promulgated guidelines for the Court's use in determining the amount of child support. As a result, the Family Part Judges have now set child support in a uniform fashion throughout the State. A collateral benefit of child support guidelines is that it takes much of the anxiety and conflict out of the determination of the amount of support a parent is to pay. Parents are free to argue to the Court that their particular case presents unique circumstances which render the guidelines inapplicable. However, in most cases the guidelines are utilized not only in settlements but also at trial. The actual computations should be left to the attorneys, Probation personnel, or Family Part Judges...

Do I Have to Pay for College, Too! - Contribution by a parent for the post-high school educational expense is dependent upon the ability of the parents to contribute, the desire and ability of the child or children to succeed in their educational and vocational pursuits, and a number of other factors. Suffice it to say that if the parents have the income or credit and the child has the desire and ability, the Court will generally compel the parents to contribute, many times in proportion to the parents' income...

NY's Child Support Standards Act - On September 15, 1989 the Child Support Standards Act (CSSA) became effective. This sweeping new legislation (sometimes unofficially called the "guidelines") amends Section 240 of the Domestic Relation Law to require that the court provide for child support and that an award of child support be made in accordance with subdivision 1-b of that section. Identical child support provisions were included in Section 413(1-b) of the Family Court Act...

Child Support at a Glance - Child Support: child support is payment pursuant to a court order by agreement for the care and maintenance of any unemancipated child under 21 years. The case law and statutory law are quite clear in that both parents have an equal obligation to support the children of the marriage. The support obligation will terminate prior to the age of 21 years if the child becomes emancipated. Emancipation is a question of fact but would include, among other things, the marriage of the child, the full-time employment of the child, or the child residing way from the residence of the custodial parent...