How Does Child Support Work in Florida?

Child support anywhere remains a complicated issue not only for families and the children involved but from a legal standpoint as well. However, parents enduring the trials and tribulations associated with divorce must understand how things work. Just like when they were married, both parents remain legally obligated to provide support for their children.

Raising children is expensive. When the funds come from just one parent, the financial burden can quickly become unbearable.

Florida courts ensure that parents meet a child’s financial needs to the best of their ability. After all, child support pays for things like food, healthcare, and shelter.

The best way to ensure that parents understand how child support in Miami and throughout the state of Florida works is by consulting with an experienced child support lawyer from a firm like ours at De Socarraz & Jimenez. However, we want to break down some of the information regarding Florida child support in this brief overview. Read on to learn more.

How Does Florida Calculate Child Support?

The State of Florida calculates child support by relying on a formula that accounts for a variety of factors.

First, the court will analyze the income and expenses of each parent. This includes the amount that parents will spend on expenses like healthcare and daycare. The calculation will help them determine how much child support may remain necessary.

An additional factor that goes into Florida child support is the amount of time that the parent without primary child custody will be able to spend with their child. If a parent’s visitation time includes at least 73 overnight stays per year, then the amount of required child support may fluctuate.

In some circumstances, the court may additionally establish retroactive child support. This accounts for the time that the parents were separated before child support in Miami was assigned. 

A child support lawyer can often establish how much child support their client will pay in child support by relying on their experience in family law.

The amount of child support that a parent remains liable for in Florida can also be modified at any time due to changes in circumstances. Some examples may include:

• Loss of Job
• Increases in Child Healthcare Costs
• Income Changes

Any of these examples may cause child support responsibilities to increase or decrease. However, the courts will not usually modify child support retroactively. This only becomes applicable in cases where one parent stops exercising their timesharing rights.

Enforcing Child Support in Miami

Florida courts may rely on various methods to enforce payment of child support in Miami. They could include:

• Holding a parent in contempt of court
• Suspending a parent’s driver’s license
• Placing a lien of a parent’s property

These methods represent some of the ways that Florida courts enforce child support obligations. Child support enforcement is also not subjected to any statute of limitations. A court may enforce child support payments even after the child becomes independent.

Do You Need a Child Support Attorney?

It is common for family dynamics or income to change amongst parents over time. Does this mean that the amount of child support changes? Not necessarily. Changes must not only be considerable enough to warrant the court hearing the modification case but additionally demonstrated in a way proving the necessity of the modification.

The average timeframe for a child support case in Florida ranges from six to eight months. Nevertheless, it is the most expeditious when both parents fully cooperate with the process. Enforcements of existing orders don’t take as long, averaging about four to six months.

Our firm from De Socarraz & Jimenez recommends hiring an attorney experienced with child support in Miami to help ensure a reasonable, fair amount for child support. It doesn’t matter if a client is a custodial or non-custodial parent, legal counsel will represent their best interests throughout the complex and convoluted process in determining child support.

Understanding how child support works in Florida is imperative for divorced parents, as well as those going through the separation process. Consulting with an experienced family law attorney or a lawyer specializing in Florida child support remains the best way to ensure you understand how the Florida child support system operates.

If you or someone you know needs a consultation with an attorney regarding child support under Florida law our team offers free consultations in Miami-Dade County. Please contact our firm De Socarraz & Jimenez today for more information on child support in Miami.