Use this Texas child support law to learn about your
child support rights and responsibilites.
What does the court consider when determining the amount
of child support?
Support amounts are based on income and ability to pay
according to state guidelines. Texas considers the financial support of
children to be a joint responsibility of both parents. However, in determining
the amount of child support to be paid by the non-custodial parent to the
custodial parent, only the non-custodial parent’s income is considered.
Support will be paid as a flat percentage of the non-custodial
parent’s income (less allowable deductions) for each child. The courts
presume that the custodial parent will spend at least an equal percentage of
their income directly for supporting the children.
How do your individual salaries affect support
payments?
Even though Texas considers the financial responsibility for
raising children to be a shared responsibility, only the non-custodial
parent’s income is considered in calculating child support. The
income/salary of the custodial parent generally does not come into question
unless there is evidence that simply following the guidelines is not in the
best interest of the child.
Does it make a difference if your spouse or you have a
second family, stepchildren, or other children?
Yes. The court will take into consideration any child support
or alimony payments being made by a parent when the amount of support is being
calculated for the current divorce. If one parent is making support payments
that are not court-ordered, but can prove are being made, that will be
considered in the support amount determination.
Texas uses a complex set of guidelines and formulas to
determine how support should be paid when a non-custodial parent has children
in multiple households. It is based on adding a total support obligation for
all children as if they lived in one household.
The procedure then considers the number of children involved in
the current proceeding, and applies credits for support to children who are not
part of the current proceeding. There is much more involved in this particular
aspect of determining support.
Without the aid of counsel or a state caseworker, these amounts
are very difficult to calculate. The resources or needs of either parent's new
spouse or dependants may not be used to increase or decrease the child support
obligation.
The exception to this is award of additional court-ordered
support payments. If the non-custodial parent remarries, has a second family,
then divorces again, they can seek a modification based on court-ordered
support for the second family.
Support payments, alimony or similar obligations in place prior
to the second divorce/support proceeding are considered in modifications. The
court cannot set a level of support that totals more than 50 to 65 percent of
the non-custodial parent’s earnings, when support payments are calculated
from all court orders. As a result, a custodial parent (or parents) may only
receive a pro-rated share of their support, if the non-custodial parent has
multiple support orders.
At what age does child support payments end?
Generally, the obligation ends when the child reaches 18 years
of age or the child graduates from high school, whichever occurs later.
However, a court can order the obligation to continue for an indefinite period
if the child is disabled.
A child will automatically be ineligible for child support if
that child marries, is removed from disability status by a court order, or the
child dies.
Texas's custody guidelines:
Actually, parents are encouraged to agree on parenting and
custody issues. If there is no agreement between the parents, or their
agreement is not found to be in the child's best interest, then the courts will
make these decisions.
In Texas, custody is often called managing conservator ship.
Joint or sole managing conservatorship may be awarded based on the best
interests of the child and in some cases, considering the child’s
preference. The sex of the parents is not considered. Other factors the courts
consider include:
- the age, circumstances, needs and best interests of the
child
- the parents’ circumstances
- any evidence of abuse
- any other relevant factors
In Texas, the courts now encourage joint legal custody whenever
practical, based on their own considerations. The courts will not award joint
custody if there is any credible evidence of spousal or child abuse. The courts
will award joint custody if the parents have a written parenting agreement
that:
- designates which parent has the exclusive right to establish
the county of primary residence of the child
- establishes the geographic area of residence for the child
- states the rights and duties of each parent regarding the
child’s care, support and education
- includes ways to minimize disruption of the child’s
schooling, routine and association with friends
- was entered into voluntarily and knowingly
- is in the best interests of the child
Texas's medical insurance guidelines:
In any divorce proceeding where children are involved, the
court will assign a health benefit plan to be maintained, usually through
either parent’s employment. If there is no health plan reasonable
available, the court may order other remedies for providing health
care/insurance.
In Texas, medical insurance premiums are assumed to be the
responsibility of the non-custodial parent. Medical insurance premiums are
considered an addition to the amount of support that is otherwise calculated by
using the support guidelines.
Most often, the non-custodial parent will maintain a policy
available through their employer. If that is not possible and the custodial
parent has a policy available through their employer, the custodial parent will
enroll the child, and the non-custodial parent will be ordered to pay the
premium.
If the custodial parent does not have a policy available, the
court may order the non-custodial parent to purchase a policy. If the
non-custodial parent cannot afford a private policy, they may be ordered to
apply for coverage through Texas Healthy Kids Corporation.
If that coverage is not available, as a last resort, the
non-custodial parent will be ordered to pay an additional amount of support for
medical expenses. Extraordinary and/or non-reimbursed medical expenses may be
cause for the court to deviate from the standard support guidelines, but
generally are treated as an expense that is allocated between the parents
according to their financial circumstances.
Day care costs are considered after the basic support
obligation is determined. The cost of day care incurred by either parent in
order to obtain or maintain employment, can be treated as a reason to deviate
from the standard support guidelines.
How permanent are the provisions for Texas child support
and custody ?
Court orders providing for support and custody of children are
subject to change or modification to reflect significant changes in income,
and/or living arrangements of the children.
While all orders concerning the children are modifiable in the
future, we encourage you to not enter into an agreement based on the idea that
it can always be changed or modified later.
Wage garnishment for child support payments:
Most states, including Texas, have a provision for withholding
child support directly from the earnings of the parent who has been ordered to
provide support. The payments are withheld much like income tax is withheld
from earnings payments.
This way of paying and receiving child support is generally
easier for both parties and considered a very dependable solution. The way it
typically works is, once the support is withheld, it is then sent to the state
agency authorized to receive and disburse payments. Once it has been verified
that the support was paid, it is then sent to the parent designated to receive
the support.
How does joint custody work?
Joint custody is now widely recognized by parents, courts and
state legislatures as the preferred parenting plan.
Specifically, joint custody is a form of custody of minor
children that requires both parents to share the responsibilities of the
children, and for both parents to approve all major decisions related to the
children.
While joint custody is a 50-50 sharing of responsibilities and
major decisions affecting the children, it rarely works out to be a 50-50
sharing of time with the children. Often one parent is named as the primary
joint custodian and the other parent is granted visitation. The primary joint
custodian typically retains the decision making power to determine the
child’s primary residence and school and to designate things such as the
child’s primary physician.
How Texas determines child visitation and
custody:
When disputes arise over support payments, courts view visitation
and support as separate issues. The level of support you receive depends on
your custody arrangement. If you have primary physical custody, you will
receive an amount based on that.
If you and your child’s other parent share custody, the
level of support will be based on the shared custody arrangement. The Texas
statutes dealing with custody — referred to as "conservatorship" can be
found at http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/statutes/fa/fa015300toc.html.
In the past, if a non-custodial parent refused to pay support,
there was not much the other parent could do — except refuse visitation.
The courts now recognize that visitation and support payments are two separate
issues.
If you are the custodial parent, and your support is late or
nonexistent, understand you still must allow visitation. Refusing to allow
visitation, based on not receiving child support, could put you at risk for a
contempt of court citation. A contempt charge also could be leveled against a
non-custodial parent who stops paying support based on the claim that they have
not been allowed visitation.
Generally, parents are free to visit with their children at all
times that are mutually agreed to by both parents. However, when parents cannot
agree to exactly when visitation will occur, the standard visitation schedule
accepted most everywhere in the nation is:
- every other weekend
- four to six (4-6) weeks during the summer
- alternating holidays
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