Law Library Articles
Top 10 Child Support Articles in the LegalMatch Law Library
Charlie Sheen and P. Diddy learned the hard way that child support can be frustrating and costly. When Charlie Sheen divorced Brooke Mueller, the mother of his twins, he was ordered to pay $55,000 a month in child support. P. Diddy pays child support to two women: $19,000 a month to Misa Hylton-Brin for their son Justin, and $20,000 a month to Kim Porter for their son Christian.
Child support is a court-ordered, monthly payment that a non-custodial parent pays to a custodial parent (the parent taking primary care of the child). The purpose of child support is to provide for the needs of the child, including expenses for food, clothing, school, entertainment, housing, utilities, and transportation. Here are the top ten articles about child support from the LegalMatch Law Library:
1. How Can I Get My Child Support Lowered?
This article answers one of the most common questions involving child support: "How do I get my child support lowered?" In most states, you can only get your child support lowered if there was a "substantial" and "continual" change in circumstances.
2. Retroactive Child Support in Texas
In Texas, you can receive "retroactive child support." In other words, once your child support application is approved, you can collect child support back from the date when you first applied for child support.
3. Lowering Child Support for Changed Financial Circumstances
If you run into financial trouble from a lost job, a pay reduction, or a similar situation, you can try to lower your child support. However, you must show that lowering your child support is justified. To determine if lowering your child support is justified, a court will balance the best interests of the child and other factors against your financial burden.
4. Unmarried Fathers and Child Support
As P. Diddy has learned twice, a father must support his child even if he never married the child’s mother. This article discusses when a person qualifies as a legal father, the effect of a paternity test on a person’s legal duties, and when a person is legally required to support his stepchildren.
5. How to Stop Child Support
In some cases, you may be able to stop paying child support. There are several circumstances where terminating your child support payments may be a legal option, including (1) when the child is no longer a minor; (2) when another person has adopted the child; and (3) when the child has been emancipated.
6. Military Child Support Lawyers
If your former spouse is in the military, you can still enforce a child support agreement against him or her. If the military person is delinquent in his or her payments, you can have his or her wages garnished for child support. To do this, you must obtain an "Income Deduction Order" or "Income Withholding Order." This order will say that the military must withhold the other parent’s pay and submit it to you.
7. Child Support for Non-Married Couples
Even non-married parents can be required to pay child support. However, in some cases it is unclear whether a person is the child’s legal father. This article discusses the types of paternity, how to establish paternity, and how to contest paternity.
8. Child Support Modification
Child support orders can sometimes be modified. If the court finds that there is a "change in circumstances," the court can modify the order. The "change in circumstances" can be a change for the non-custodial parent, the custodial parent, or the child.
9. Grandparents and Child Support
Sometimes, a grandparent has to pay child support. This can happen if the parents prove that they are unable to care for the child or if the court grants custody tot the grandparents. However, in most states, it is very difficult for parents to prove that they are unable to support their child.
10. Calculating Child Support in Florida
This article explains how to calculate child support in Florida. The sunshine state has a mathematical formula for calculating child support payments. However, courts in Florida also have the discretion to consider other factors.
