Pembroke Pines Child Support

Family Law Attorney Serving Residents of Pembroke Pines

Pembroke Pines is a major city in the Miami metropolitan area that was officially incorporated in 1960. In 2000, about 36% of Pembroke Pines households had minor children living in them. Unfortunately, child support may be a source of strife during a divorce and after the divorce is complete. Many parents assume—wrongly—that child support is for the benefit of the other parent. In fact, the law of child support recognizes that both parents owe an obligation to support their children financially. Pembroke Pines child support lawyer Carmen Soto can advocate for parents who are seeking to establish a child support obligation or argue that they should not be required to pay support. We are located directly across the street from the new Broward courthouse, which is where family law matters that affect Pembroke Pines residents are heard. Thus, we do not need to charge travel costs or parking fees related to court proceedings.

Understanding Child Support Issues

You owe your child financial support. If your child spends the majority of the time with you, the other parent is generally supposed to pay you child support. If your child spends the majority of the time with the other parent, you are generally supposed to pay child support. While the payments are supposed to provide for a portion of the costs of shelter, food, electricity, water, and more, the custodial parent does not owe an accounting of how the child support was used. When the parents have equal timesharing, neither parent may need to pay child support. But depending on the incomes, just because you have equal time sharing does not mean you do not owe the other parent child support.

Child support is calculated using the Florida Child Support Guidelines, which set forth a formula used to calculate payments. There is a table of income levels that decides how much child support should be paid for a certain number of children, and the primary figure used to calculate the support is the income of the two parents. Other expenses are also taken into account, including health insurance, day care costs when the parents work outside the home, and taxes. Other factors to be considered include the overnights spent with the child. If a parent maintains 20% of the overnights over the year, their obligation to pay is reduced.

Although the requirement that you pay support does have a connection to your overnights with a child, timesharing is distinct from child support. You may not stop paying support if the other parent violates a court order, and you may not deny access to the child if the other parent refuses to honor a child support obligation. The appropriate recourse in this situation is to sue to enforce the child support order. Carmen Soto, as an experienced child support attorney, can assist Pembroke Pines residents with enforcement matters.

It may be possible to request a modification if there is a substantial and material change in circumstances. For example, if you become disabled and can no longer work, this is a likely substantial change in circumstances that warrants a modification. It is crucial that you file a motion to modify child support rather than simply stop paying. If you do not obtain a modified order, you will still owe the arrearages even if you cannot pay.

People who have children out of wedlock will need to establish paternity in order to obtain child support. You may establish paternity by marrying the other parent of the child, by obtaining an acknowledgment of paternity, by obtaining an administrative order based on genetic testing, or by obtaining a court order. You may ask the Florida Child Support Enforcement Program to establish paternity for the purpose of obtaining child support from the other parent.

Consult a Child Support Lawyer in the Pembroke Pines Area

Child support often is a contentious matter. Pembroke Pines child support attorney Carmen Soto can offer skillful representation for people who are seeking, trying to modify, or fighting a child support order. Ms. Soto has practiced as a family law attorney for more than 15 years. Our staff speaks both Spanish and English, and we offer flexible payment plans to accommodate our clients’ financial circumstances. Contact us at 954-523-0703 or via our online form to set up a appointment with a divorce lawyer.