Child support is oftentimes the most contentious aspect of a divorce. The court will work to ensure the child is awarded the most time with the parent best able to provide for its physical and emotional needs. If you are concerned about child support in an upcoming divorce hearing or are seeking to contest your current support scheme, call the Michigan divorce attorneys in our FasTrack Divorce® system to help.
How Support is Determined
Michigan child support is based upon a formula known as the Michigan Child Support Formula Manual. FasTrack Divorce® can help you understand what your obligations could be.
Factors in which are used to determine how much child support to be paid include:
- Mother's net income
- Father's net income
- Number of children the couple has
- Overnight parenting time of each parent
- Other support obligations
- Custody of other children
- Health care costs
- Child care costs for the minor children in the case
Even if the parents have joint custody or spend equal time with the child, they may still be required to pay child support since the Formula manual takes into consideration each parent's income.
What Does Not Factor into Support
The court doesn't not take into consideration things such as the monthly bills of either parent when determining child support. Nor do they look at how much visitation each parent gets—even if you have little time to see your child, you may still have to pay support.
If one parent remarries to another person, the new spouse's income is not used in the formula determining child support. It could, on the other hand, if remarriage affects a party's tax filing status and changes their net income.
Even if you have lost your job the court can still impute to you a certain amount of support you will need to pay based on their assumption of your abilities.
If you have a child support problem contact FasTrack Divorce® to get help now! We serve Bloomfield Hills, Dearborn, Troy, Livonia, Canton, and all of the Detroit Metro Area.
