Child Support in Divorce

Child support may be assigned to an individual following a divorce. Many divorces involve children and laws have been made to decrease the negative impact a divorce may have on a child. In order to help the child maintain his or her former quality of life, one parent may be required to pay support to the child’s custodial parent to help with finances. The amount can be affected by the financial circumstances of each party, the reason for divorce, or the age and well-being of the child.

Child support amounts may stay the same for long periods of time. They may remain static until the child turns 18. Since both parents want the best for their child, the amount determined will most likely reflect what is needed for a child to maintain their way of life after a divorce. If payments seem satisfactory, they may never need to be changed. In most states this payment amount extends all the way until the child is 18. However, this is often times not the case, and the child support process can involve a court or lawyers reassessing the amount of child support payments.

There are several main reasons a support payment may change following the initial court-ordered decision. This includes a drastic change in financial circumstances in either party or new issues that arise with a child. If a child gets very sick or develops behavioral problems, there may need to be reassess the mount of payments.

Another important issue addressed after these agreements are reached is making sure that payments are made. It is not up the person responsible for making payments to decide when and what amount they will pay. They are legally required to make their payments.

Since child support can be difficult to determine, the majority of people will hire divorce attorneys to represent them during their fight for a fair support payment.