Fort Wayne Child Support, Modifications, and Disputes Lawyers

At first glance, child support seems like a simple situation. But due to many complexities in the law and state guidelines, obtaining an accurate child support figure can be quite complicated.

Generally speaking, child support is based on the income of each parent. And what exactly is income? The state guidelines tell us that money earned from typical employment is income; however, they do not stop there. Money earned via overtime employment may be considered. Likewise, if one party has substantial bills paid for them (perhaps by a parent or new spouse), then the money they save by having the bill covered may be considered income, as well. There are many intricacies to determining income.

In addition to income, a child support order includes certain credits, such as the number of overnights exercised by a parent per year, childcare expenses, and health insurance premiums paid.

Finally, the law and guidelines also give substantial deference to the trial court, thus allowing the court to deviate from the guidelines if it appears appropriate.

As to modifications and disputes, the law allows child support to be modified at any time so long as certain conditions are met. It does not matter that your marital settlement agreement or any other prior agreement states child support is to be a certain amount. So long as your circumstances have changed dramatically or it has been a year since you filed and a new calculation of support would deviate from the current order by 20% or more, you can seek a modification.

And lastly, if someone isn’t paying their support, you should try and resolve the dispute amicably. And if that fails to work, you may ask the court to hold them in contempt. If the court finds them in contempt, they have many available options at their disposal. They may order the person to jail until they pay, they may make them pay your attorney fees and a whole host of other actions.

Let us help you in making sure you are paying or receiving an appropriate and fair amount in child support. We can also vigorously pursue those who do not pay.