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What is child custody?

Child custody refers to guardianship of a child. This may refer to physical custody, wherein you have the right to have the child physically under your care. It may also refer to legal custody, where you have the right to make decisions for a child but do not actually have the child living with you.

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If I was laid off and cannot afford child support payments, can I have them lowered?

If your income has dropped dramatically and you are no longer able to make your child support payments, you have two options: you can explain the situation to the custodial parent and ask them to agree to a temporary or permanent change in your child support payments or you can petition the court and request that they make a change in the child support order despite the objections of the other parent.

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Child Support Modification

A child support order can be changed or modified if there is a material change in circumstance since the original court order of child support. The party seeking to modify child support will need to petition the court, and will have the burden of proving that circumstances have changed in such a manner that the child support order needs to be altered.

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Is an attorney necessary to voluntarily terminate parental rights?

When a father consents to the idea of giving up his parental rights to a child, he and the child’s mother need to visit a lawyer in order to ensure that all paperwork is correctly handled and that the termination of rights is legally valid. The details of parental rights termination vary, sometimes greatly, by state, and it’s absolutely essential that a lawyer assist you during this process.

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Who can be ordered to pay child support?

Child support may be ordered of any legal parent who has not officially relinquished his or her parental rights. If you are a biological parent, or an adoptive parent, of a child, then you may be ordered to pay child support for that child whenever you are no longer living in his or her home or providing him with routine care.

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How do child care costs get factored into child support?

The costs of child care, such as day care or baby sitters, is factored into the equation when a court is calculating how much child support one parent needs to pay to the other. How exactly this calculation is made varies by state. In the majority of cases, however, the cost of child care is split 50/50 under the law.

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What about allocation of standard of living?

In a divorce and custody case where child support is being calculated, standard of living will factor into the calculation. Standard of living refers to the type of lifestyle that the child will live, based on income and money available. The general legal understanding is that the child is legally entitled to live at the same standard of living as the parents.

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What counts as income in a child support calculation?

The calculation of child support payments differs widely by state, but in general, it’s based on the broad definition of your total income after taxes and after deductions are taken out’ in other words, your net income. However, while the vast majority of states use your net income as the basis for the support calculation, there are a few that calculate based on gross income. Regardless of whether net or gross income is used, this number is then put through another series of deductions and calculations, depending on laws in your area, to determine how much you must pay.

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