Courts calculate child support based on the amount of the paying parent’s net resources. There are guidelines that can help you estimate the amount you should pay. Resources such as Texas child support calculators can also be of great help.
Who Pays Child Support?
Texas law requires the parent that does not have primary possession of the child to pay child support. The parent with primary possession receives and uses the child support amount on behalf of the child. Sometimes the paying parent has to keep paying child support even if they are forbidden from seeing the child.
Once the child turns 18 or graduates high school, the paying parent needs to file a petition with the court to stop their obligation to continue paying. If there are multiple children, the amount paid in child support reduces every time a child turns 18 or graduates high school. But if the child has a disability that makes it difficult for them to be self-sufficient, the child support payments cannot stop.
How Much Do Most Dads Pay In Child Support?
How Much Do Most Pay In Child Support?
You need to know what your net income is for you to use the provided percentages to calculate the amount you have to pay. Remember that your monthly income is not just what you receive in wages or salary. To calculate your net income correctly you need to combine the amount you receive from the following sources:
- Prizes and gifts
- Social security, retirement benefits, and pensions
- Net rental income
- Alimony
- Business or self-employment income
- Salary, wages, tips, overtime, commissions, and bonuses
- Workers’ compensation, disability, and unemployment benefits
- Child support paid from another marriage
But you should not include the income of your new spouse, accounts receivable, foster care payments, return of capital or principal, and foster care payments in your calculations. Being unemployed or underemployed will not necessarily lead to paying a lower amount for child support. A court can impute a higher income to you if the court believes that you are intentionally underemployed or unemployed.
That means that the court will calculate the child support amount based on what the court believes is your earning potential not what you are actually earning.
What Is The Minimum Amount Of Child Support?
How To Calculate Income
The court deducts the following from your income to calculate your net income:
- Union dues
- Payments to health and dental insurance and uninsured medical expense for your kids
- State and federal income taxes
- Social security taxes
- Non-discretionary retirement plan contributions
The court will calculate your yearly net income and divide it by 12 to get your monthly net income.
Guideline Based On The Number Of Children You Have
There are guidelines that help paying parents calculate what amount they have to pay in child support if they have multiple children. The following guidelines are for parents that earn $9,200 in income or less:
- For one child you pay 20% of your net resources
- For two children you pay 25% of your net resources
- For three children you pay 30% of your net resources
- For four children you pay 35% of your net resources
- For five or 6 plus children you pay 40% of your net resources
The information provided on this website is for general informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. The content on this website is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. You should not rely on the information found on this website as a substitute for seeking professional legal counsel.