Calculating Child Support

Dothan Child Support Attorneys assisting in the calculation of child support in Abbeville, Enterprise, Ozark and the rest of Southeast, Alabama

Child support in Alabama is usually ordered paid by the parent who does not have primary physical custody.  These payments can’t be waived and are meant to be payment for the necessary costs of upbringing of minor children in Alabama.

Child support calculations can be complicated and are based on a formula approved by the Alabama legislature.  Numerous factors are considered in formulating proper child support payments:

  1. Each parent’s monthly income
  2. The number of minor children
  3. The cost of insurance for the children
  4. The cost of any daycare expenses for the children
  5. Any pre-existing child support payments received from a prior relationship

The total monthly income figures of both parents are added together to calculate their combined total income.  This monthly income total is compared to a table known as the Alabama Child Support Calculation Guidelines.

The guidelines contain the total child support based on the number of children and the parent’s combined income.  Each parent’s respective percentage of the total income is considered, as are payments for insurance, daycare, and any already existing child support costs.

After completion of this calculation, the figure is the monthly child support payment, based on the paying parent’s proportion of the total income.  The presumption that this is a correct figure is difficult to dispute, even with agreement of the parents.

When the combined income level of the parents exceeds Two Hundred Thousand Dollars per year the guidelines no longer provide figures for reasonable child support.  This does not mean the payor can get away with using the highest number in the guidelines.  If the parties cannot come to a reasonable settlement, the Court will decide what the monthly payment will be and who will make it.

Child support calculation can be complicated, but our Dothan divorce attorneys do it everyday.  Contact the law offices of Boles Holmes White to help you estimate the child support obligation in your divorce.  Call us today at 334-366-6086.

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