When ending your marriage, you have a lot on your plate — especially if children are involved. You want to make sure you walk away from the relationship in a position to take care of yourself and your children. The state of Georgia requires that child support be paid to ensure that children’s basic needs are met. Now, depending on what side of the fence you are on, you may end up paying or receiving child support, and the amount you get or have to pay could greatly affect your financial situation post-divorce.
Before granting a child support order, the court will consider a number of factors when setting the amount. There is a basic calculation that will give the court a base number to go off of, but the amount can be increased or decreased, depending on need and financial circumstances. The main factors the court will consider include:
- The income level of each parent
- The number of children requiring support
- Special needs
- Insurance costs
- Childcare costs
The court will also look at the custody arrangement in order to determine if the paying parent should have to pay more or less, depending on how much time he or she will have the children in his or her care, and the expense that comes with that. After looking at everything as a whole, an order will be written in an amount that supposedly works for both parents’ current situation. That order will remain in place until either party asks for a modification or until the order is canceled.
Having poor legal representation could affect how well you fair when it comes to child support. You may end up with an order that is for more than you can afford to pay or, on the flip side, end up receiving less than what you and your children should. An experienced family law attorney who understands the ins and outs of the child support process in Georgia can prove invaluable to your case when seeking a fair support order. To learn more, please visit our firm’s website.