The parent who earns more money than the other parent will generally be the payor of child support in a divorce. In Florida, child support is governed by statute §61.30 and there is a mathematical calculation performed to determine the amount of child support. For the most part, who pays child support in a divorce is governed by the incomes of both parents and what the Florida child support guidelines dictate should be paid. Judges look at the number of overnights that the children spend with each parent and they look at the parents’ combined net incomes. They calculate the amount of child support that the higher earning parent is going to pay to the lower earning parent based on what the statutory guidelines establish should be paid.
Even with the statutory child support guidelines in place, there are still many areas where people litigate and fight. Some people may try to hide or understate their true income. You also have to take into consideration issues such as the taxes that are paid by the parties, health insurance premiums and uncovered medical expenses of the children, the daycare expenses and other things like that that can have an impact on the amount of child support.
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