Child support guidelines are set forth in the Texas Family Code, and the amount of payment is determined by both the Code and a variety of social, economic, and professional factors. We work with you to estimate appropriate amounts, and ensure that the monies are paid in the appropriate manner. Families crumble for any number of reasons: divorce, the death of a parent, drug and alcohol abuse, incarceration. Grandparents may have rights and can seek visitation with or custody of grandchildren.
Texas has child support guidelines that are generally followed when parents split up. The parent who is not the primary caretaker of the child is usually required to pay child support according to these guidelines.
The Courts take the parent’s gross monthly income and deduct federal (and state, if any) income tax, social security and Medicare taxes, health insurance premiums, and union dues to obtain a net income. Then the Courts use a chart with the total number of children this parents has, and the number of children in this particular case, to determine what percentage of the parent’s income to multiply by to obtain the guideline child support amount.
I encourage you to input your information in the child support calculator on our website to find out how much guideline child support is for your situation.
If a person is not employed, the Courts will make the assumption that the person has the ability to get a job paying at least minimum wage.
There is also a cap to these guidelines, where if a parent makes over a certain amount per month, the amount of child support the parent pays is capped off at a certain income level. However, depending on the judge, the Courts may choose to ignore the cap and order the parent to pay more than the capped guideline.