You first have to file an action requesting court-ordered child support. Usually, it is filed as part of a divorce action or a paternity action but it does not necessarily have to be limited to those two scenarios. Next, you have to determine the true net income of each parent and then you determine a timesharing schedule establishing where the children will be spending their overnights. The total number of overnights with each parent is input into a calculation along with the parties’ respective net incomes and an amount of child support is determined.
Actually getting a court order in place to receive your first child support payment can take several months. The case has to be filed first and a court action initiated. You can ask for temporary, immediate child support. Most judges are first going to require mediation. The parties are probably going to have to also exchange financial documentation prior to mediation and these things can take time. Once mediation has taken place, it may still take some time to get in front of the judge. The judge is the one who controls his or her scheduling calendar. We will do everything in our power to expedite the process. Although we will immediately push for expedited treatment or to get in front of the judge as fast as possible, it still can take several months before you begin receiving regular child support payments each month. One thing is for certain – the sooner you start the process, the sooner you will start getting monthly payments.
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