Thursday, September 30, 2010

Questions and Answers

I recently blogged about changes to the Florida Child Support Guidelines that are going to be effective in January of 2011. This particular subject has hit a nerve with many of my readers and also generated quite a few questions. As a result, here are some answers to some of the questions that were posted as a result of the new law regarding child support and what constitutes substantial contact for purposes of credits in a child support calculation.

1. Many people questioned whether or not this law is something that will help or hurt children. To answer this question, I think that we don't have enough data to know whether this law is going to have a negative impact on children. As a practicing attorney with many clients going through divorce, I have seen first hand issues with respect to time-sharing that are specifically related to whether or not someone is going to get the substantial contact credit. I see both sides of the agrument and don't know whether or not this is going to have a big impact on cases settling or people coming out of the woodwork asking for their statutory reductions. True, someone is going to get less child support as a result of this change in the law, but my hope would be that the payor parent will be more willing to help out in other financial ways like school supplies, clothing, and extra-curricular activities as a result of this reduction.

2. The statute does not specifically address extracurricular activities, however, there is a trend, at least in Central Florida to make all agreed upon extracurricular activities shared between the parties and that no party can unreasonably withhold their consent for monetary reasons. I suggest that all parties request that this be put in their Final Judgments and certainly address it in your parenting plan if you and your spouse are coming to a full agreement.

3. Daycare and summer camp expenses should always be a part of child support and addressed by a judge. One of the other changes that is going to go into effect is that childcare is no longer reduced by 25%. If you are paying 100% of the daycare, this will be factored into your child support award or obligation.

4. If you want to get this substantial contact reduction, you need to file the appropriate paperwork with the Court, which
I believe would be a Supplemental Petition to Modify. It is something that you can do on your own by getting the appropriate papers online or from your local courthouse.

If you would like more information or have a specific question, please feel free to email me at christine@bauerfamilylaw.com.

4 comments:

Brent said...

As a father, these changes make a lot of sense to me. I've never missed a single child support payment and feel like I was short-changed by my original divorce agreement (2005). I feel like I spend too little time with my son and provide my ex with way more than adequate child support. She has a 5 bedroom house for 2 people (on a teacher salary) while I'm struggling each month. Any way that allows me to see my son more often and/or makes my financial life easier is a god-send to me!

Unfortunately, it sounds like you have to go back through the whole process to get a modification done. I was told by two separate attorneys prior to this new law that I may not be able to prove 'substantial change' and should save my money in my attempts to change my visitation & support agreement. Will that still apply given this new law? Is the burden of proof still on the person filing as it seems to be currently?

cheap divorce nj said...

I agree, i see it your way as well. Since divorce cases vary from case to case, this will might affect some cases negatively and others positively (like Brent above.) Sadly, the only way we can know for sure if it's benificial on a broad scale is to study this when it finally gets implemented.

Miami Criminal Defense Lawyer said...

Great work, I've two children and I'm a 56 years old man teaching in a educational organization I need a guideline to improve my children mental behavior, I don't have enough time for them, and they are becoming rude and rude day by day, my wife died three years ago.

ed said...

i recently lost my job [my wife had already lost hers] i'm 64 and receiving social security payments and unemployment benefits. my question is - Does Florida exempt from garnishment, social security and unemployment benefit payments?
my x-wife is trying to get alimony through garnishment. thanks, Ed Rose: eddrose23@gmail.com - cell:4078603288