It
is the public policy of the state of Texas that every child is adequately
provided for and is not dependent upon the state’s resources.
Obviously, the responsibility of supporting the child rests with the
parents. The state has incorporated
guidelines that determine how much support should be paid, who must pay the
support, and upon what facts a court can modify the child support.
The
Texas Family Code contains guidelines for the computation of child support.
The guidelines are specifically designed to apply to situations in which the
obligor's monthly net resources are $6,000.00 or less.
The basic rule of thumb is that for the first child and with no other
children from this or any other relationship, the parent will be required
to pay approximately 20% of their disposable income for the first child and
an additional 5% for each child thereafter if from the same mother.
A parent with five or more children can expect to pay no less than
40% of his or her disposable income.
The
parent can anticipate paying child support until each child reaches the age
of 18, unless otherwise agreed upon.
Some parents consent to paying until 21 or even consent to paying until
the completion of higher education.
Additionally, the parent can expect to provide health insurance and
additional expenses throughout the life of the child until they reach the
termination age.
Changes in lifestyle, employment, and income are seldom predicted but often
happen. The Texas Family Code understands
the need for changes to child support from time to time and has a detailed procedure
to ensure the parent will have his or her day in court.
A parent can file a motion to modify child support based on a significant
change in circumstances and after a specific amount of time has elapsed since
the last modification. If the disposal
income has changed, the parent then files the motion in the court of original
jurisdiction. This is the court
that first ordered child support and which maintains jurisdiction until all
children reach the age of majority. Both
sides will present their cases as to why or why not the child support should
be modified. The court will then
rule on whether the child support needs to be modified, and, if so, what the
new amount of child support will be.
