Child Support

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) about child support issues. If you are getting a divorce and have children this area will help you better understand the child support issues of your divorce.

• What is child support?
• What does child support cover?
• Won’t child support be another way to separate me from my child(ren)?
• Why can the law tell me what to do when it comes to my child(ren)?
• Do I need a lawyer for a child support agreement?
• I’ve heard that judges make up the child support obligation.
• Where can I find the child support guidelines?
• What does a typical child support guideline look like?
• How is child support figured?
• I’ve heard about "child support formulas." What are these?
• Every state has a different child support formula. How can this be fair?
• Does this mean there are fifty different ways of calculating support?
• What are the three types of calculation formulas?
• What is the definition of "income shares"?
• What is the definition of "percentage of income"?
• Are child support awards unpredictable?
• Why does only the father have to pay child support?
• I have physical custody of the children; can I have wife pay child support?
• What if I believe I am supporting my ex-wife as well as the child(ren)?
• My ex-wife has a good job and a substantial income. Why does she need my money for child support?
• What if I think my ex-wife just wants the child support money for "status"?
• If I have more visitation time, will it reduce my child support obligation?
• Am I going to owe child support for the rest of my life?
• Can I deduct my child support payments from my taxes as an expense?
• Since I’m paying the child support, should I get to claim the children as dependents on my tax return?
• What if my ex-husband doesn’t want to pay for health insurance for the children?
• Can I put my child on my health insurance plan?
• My ex-wife had a child prior to our marriage, Do I have to pay child support for that child?
• My ex-wife and I had adopted a child. Do I pay child support for this child?
• Why do I have to pay child support? My brother doesn’t have to.
• My wife and I had a baby, even though I told her I didn’t want a child. Do I have to pay child support?
• My ex-wife swore that she was taking birth control pills. Do I have to pay child support, since she committed fraud?
• What should I do if my ex-husband hid assets and they were not considered when determining the child support?
• After the judge orders the child support award, are you stuck with it?
• My ex-husband has changed jobs with a lower income by choice. How does this effect the child support payments?
• I was forced to take a lesser paying job due to my health problems? How does this effect child support?
• Is having an extremely low income a way for a parent to avoid child support?
• My ex-husband just won the state lottery. Should he pay more chills support?
• I just lost my job. Can I get an abatement on my child support duties?
• My ex-husband quit his job in order to get a graduate degree in business. Will this permit him to pay less child support?
• My ex-husband is in the military and gets a housing allowance. Should this income be included in calculating child support?
• My ex-husband has a company car, so he doesn’t have the added expense. Can I consider this fact when calculating child support?
• Can I consider my ex-husband’s gambling winnings to calculate child support?
• My ex-husband just received a very large inheritance from his maiden aunt. Should the child support be increased?
• My ex-husband was just convicted of a crime and imprisoned. Does this mean he no longer has to pay child support?
• What if my ex-husband has chosen poverty as a way of life?
• Can I ask for a modification in child support because my child(ren)’s expenses increased immensely?
• My ex-wife received a lump-sum settlement. Should this be considered when calculating child support?
• Can I stop paying child support if I do not want to visit my children?
• My ex-wife is interfering with my visitation schedule so can I stop paying child support?
• What if I believe my ex-wife is just using the child support for herself?
• Can I force my ex-wife to provide me with an accounting statement of all the children’s expenses?
• My ex-wife’s new husband makes a good living so why should I have to continue to pay child support?
• Should I still be paying child support if my ex-wife and her new husband have a much better standard of living?
• My ex-husband has remarried, and his standard of living has increased. Can I ask for a modification of child support?
• Can I decrease my child support payments to my first wife if I have another child with my new wife?
• Can I be granted a reduction in child support payments do to an increase in expenses?
• Can I stop paying child support because I don’t like my ex-wife’s new boyfriend?
• Do I still have to pay child support if my teen-age daughter just got married?
• Must I still pay child support if my son dropped out of college?
• Do I have to pay for the college admission to Harvard, since rather than a state school?
• What if my child just joined the Marines and won’t be going to college, at least for a few years. Do I still owe child support?
• Do I have to pay child support since my child now has recently decided to attend college?
• What if I can’t afford to send my child(ren) to college?
• Should my ex-spouse still be obligated to pay child support if my child is mentally handicapped and 18 years old?
• If my ex-spouse refuses to pay child support, under written agreement should I sue to get the money my child(ren) deserve?
• Can my ex-spouse petition the court to have my professional license lifted if I owe back due child support?
• What if my ex-spouse believes that child support is unconstitutional, and refuses to pay?
• How can I get an order of child support enforced?
• What if the child support enforcement office or a motion for contempt does not solve the problem?
• What if I am not sure where the father, who is obligated to be paying child support, resides?
• What if my ex-husband moved out of state in attempt to escape his child support obligation?
• Does my ex-husband have to live in my state to motion for contempt or file suit in regards to back due child support?
• Is it my responsibility to enforcing a child support order?
• Do I have to hire a private detective to locate a non-paying parent?
• Can I ask my ex-husband’s parents for child support, since he claims he has no money?
• If my mother has custody of our child can she get child support from the child’s father?
• I found out two years later that I had a child with my ex-wife. Can I just pay the current support obligation?
• Can I with hold child support to stop my ex-wife from moving away with the children?
• What chance do I have of collecting child support if my ex-husband lives outside the U.S.?
• Can we spell out our child support agreement within our separation agreement?
• If we spell out our child support agreement in our separation agreement, does the judge have to accept it?
• If the judge sets aside the child support part of the agreement, is the rest of the agreement invalid?
• Does this mean that we can’t make our child support agreement different from the guidelines?
• Can my separation agreement stop my spouse from moving away with the children?
• Can I have my separation agreement provide for the support of our children through college?
• What if my child never graduates from college, and just keeps taking courses indefinitely?
• What if I want my child support to end if my daughter gets married?
• What do you mean, "void as against public policy"?
• Can I make my spouse agree to pay all medical expenses?
• Can I put in my agreement that child support cannot be modified?
• Can I put in my agreement the idea of a fixed child support increase, instead of allowing modification?
• Can I put in my agreement that my estate would be responsible for child support payments should I decease?