Child and Spousal Support

If you are a parent, you know how expensive raising a child can be. When you are a single parent trying to support yourself and your children on one income instead of two, you know that prompt payment of fair child support is critical. If you are a non-custodial parent, you want to know that you are not paying more than your fair share of child-rearing expenses.

If you are a husband or wife who was financially dependent on your spouse during a part of, or for all of your marriage, you may be concerned about how you are going to pay the bills after your divorce. You may need further education, retraining, or vocational rehabilitation to be able to find and keep a job. You may need spousal support (alimony) from your ex-spouse to allow you to survive until you are self-supporting.

At Larose Law, we represent parents and spouses both in divorces and in disputes over child support and spousal support (also known as alimony). In addition to helping you establish an initial support order, we can help you enforce your right to payment of support. We can also bring motions to change child support or alimony orders when necessary.

Establishing and Enforcing Your Rights in Child Support

Child support is a monthly payment from one parent to the other for child-related expenses. Child support is usually calculated according to the Child Support Guidelines and is primarily based on income and the visitation timeshare. When deciding child support, the family court may order that the custodial parent continue to reside in the family home with the children. Child support may also include orders to a parent to pay for:

• Health, medical and dental insurance
• Unreimbursed health care costs not covered by insurance
• Daycare and childcare costs
• The cost of counseling or therapeutic services for the child
• Tuition, books and other educational expenses

Our legal services include creating and filing all court documents necessary to access child support, including all financial disclosure documents. We also get employment records and create wage assignments so employers can pay support directly to the custodial parent.

When parents refuse to work, are intentionally underemployed, or try to hide income, we litigate with the goal of obtaining court orders directing them to find work or work full-time. We track all income and benefits to determine the actual income they receive. At times, this includes the use of cash-flow projections, accountants, subpoenas, and court trials to determine their true income and ability to work.

Establishing and Enforcing Your Rights Regarding Spousal Support

In general, one spouse pays spousal support or alimony monthly to the other spouse. Payments are based on a range of factors directly related to the unique circumstances of the marriage.

At the beginning of a divorce or legal separation action, child and spousal support payments are usually determined by a court-approved calculator (computer program), taking into consideration income and a narrow range of expenses.

Later, spousal support may be made "permanent" by taking into consideration a full range of factors. These factors include:

• The length of the marriage
• Domestic violence in the marriage
• The education of each spouse
• Whether one spouse was unemployed or partially employed during the marriage
• The impact that staying at home or caring for children has had on one parent's ability to find a job
• The standard of living during the marriage
• The age and health of each spouse
• The need for one spouse to have reduced employment in order to care for the children
• Any other factors that bear on the need for or against spousal support

At your free initial consultation, an experienced divorce attorney will explain the law regarding child support and spousal support. We will review the facts of your situation and provide an opinion of how the law will apply to the unique circumstances of your relationship.

Contact us to schedule your consultation to discuss your concerns regarding child support, spousal support, or any other divorce-related issues.