Franklin Child Support Attorney
Both parents are obligated to support their children financially, regardless of whether the parents are married, divorced, separating, or were never married at all. When parents with minor children divorce, the court will calculate a monthly financial obligation for the parents based on their combined income, the number of children to be supported, and the percentage of time the children spend in the custody of each parent. The court will then order the non-custodial parent to pay a monthly amount of child support to the primary residential parent. This obligation lasts until the children turn 18 in most cases, or in some instances longer if the children are still in high school or have special needs.
It is imperative for the children to be adequately supported throughout childhood and that both parents are required to contribute their fair share. The Franklin child support attorneys at Fort, Holloway, & Rogers can help in this process by ensuring that child support is calculated fairly and that any deviation from the Tennessee child support guidelines is in the best interest of the children. See below for more information about child support in Tennessee and how our family law attorneys can help. Call our office in Franklin to discuss any concerns you have regarding child support in your Williamson County divorce or child custody dispute.
How the Tennessee Child Support Guidelines Work
The Tennessee Child Support Guidelines consist of 72 pages of laws, rules, formulas, worksheets and schedules that determine how much monthly child support the non-custodial parent has to pay to the parent with primary custody. After completing several pages of worksheets and consulting the child support schedule in the guidelines, the parents will arrive at a basic child support obligation. This amount takes into account the combined adjusted gross incomes of both parents, the number of children to be supported, each parent’s allotted time with the children, and other relevant factors, such as childcare expenses, the cost of health insurance premiums for the children, and unreimbursed medical expenses. The guidelines become even more complicated in situations where the parents share custodial time equally or where custody of multiple children is split between the parents.
How Our Franklin Child Support Attorneys Can Help
Calculating child support starts with combining the gross incomes of both parents and making adjustments under the guidelines. Income is more than just salary or wages; the guidelines include 24 different kinds of income that should be included. Our experienced Tennessee child support attorneys can guide you through the complicated task of reporting all of your income, but even more importantly, we can help make sure your spouse or co-parent is reporting their income completely and correctly as well. Some spouses might underreport their income to pay less in support, at the expense of the children and the custodial parent who must support them. Some spouses go so far as to hide assets in creative ways or become willfully unemployed or underemployed. At Fort, Holloway, & Rogers, LLC, our Franklin child support lawyers can help ensure your spouse is reporting their income accurately so child support can be calculated fairly.
It’s also important to know that the amount calculated under the guidelines is only presumed to be the appropriate amount; the judge is allowed to deviate up or down from the guidelines amount if convinced the guidelines amount is unjust and a deviation would be in the best interest of the child. Deviations are sometimes allowed if a parent has to incur substantial travel expenses for parenting time or if the children have extraordinary expenses, such as medical needs, education, summer camp or costly extracurricular activities like band or athletics. If you are asking the judge to deviate from the guidelines or opposing such a motion, we’ll put together a case backed by factual evidence and appropriate legal arguments to make sure you and your children are properly supported and not taken advantage of when it comes to child support obligations.
Help With Child Support in Franklin & Williamson County
For honest advice and a strategic approach to meeting child support needs for you and your children in a Williamson County divorce or child custody dispute, call Fort, Holloway, & Rogers at 615-791-7575 to share your concerns with a team of skilled and knowledgeable Franklin child support attorneys.
