Child Support in Florida:

If there are minor children involved in a divorce child support payments are usually a given.  Parents cannot contract away or waive a child support obligation because child support is considered a right of the minor child and not the eligible parent.  What is up to dispute is how much support a parent should ultimately be responsible for.

Calculation of Support Obligation:

Child support in Florida is calculated according to statutory guidelines.  You can see the exact text of the Florida Child Support Statute here and a Florida Supreme Court Child Support Guidelines Worksheet here.  The worksheet is utilized by the Court to compute child support and one is filed in every case where there are minor children involved.  Child Support payments vary depending upon the following:

Factors in Determining Child Support:

	The number of children eligible for support
	The net income of the Father (Father's gross income minus all allowable deductions)
	The net income of the Mother (Mother's gross income minus all allowable deductions)
	Additional support needs of the children (such as child care or health care costs)
	The percentage of annual overnight stays each parent has with the children. If the children spend more than 40% of their overnight stays with the other parent it triggers a "gross up" calculation.
	Support the parent is already paying
	Special needs of the children

As you can see from the above list there are lots of variables involved in computing a child support obligation.  Inappropriate and incorrect application of these factors could either oppressively inflate or drastically undervalue a support obligation.

When do Child Support Payments Start?

Child support payments start the day a temporary or final child support order is entered.  A parent could be liable for payments from the day of the order or as much as 24 months prior to the filing of the petition.  This means that the Court has the ability to levy a child support arrearage against a parent based on two years of back payment.

When do Child Support Payments End?

A minor child’s right to child support ends when they reach the age or majority (18 years of age) or at most 19 years of age if the child is in high school and in good standing.  However, if you owe back payments, they will stay with you even after the child reaches the age of majority.  A parent's past child support obligations go away only upon payment or death. 

Modification of Child Support:

Child support, like other issues decided during a divorce or custody action, can be modified.  Modification of an existing child support obligation requires a difference of at least 15% or $50.00 (whichever is greater) between your current child support obligation and one computed under the guidelines.  Said in another way – If there is an existing child support order, possibly entered from a divorce judgment or maybe a paternity action, that existing order is based on the financial circumstances of both parents at the date of the order.  Now, fast forward, and either the parties’ financial circumstances or needs of the minor child changed.  If we take these changes into account and recalculate the support obligation that would give you a potential new support amount.  If this potential new support amount differs, positive or negative, by either the greater of %15 or $50.00 from the existing support amount, a modification would be in order.

As you can see, child support could change on a yearly basis if warranted.  This should help individuals responsible for support payments in the event of an economic downturn.  On the flip side, the modification process allows the support recipient to benefit from the other parent’s future economic success.