San Antonio Child Support Lawyer

Dedicated, Compassionate & Experienced Counsel for Child Support Issues in Texas

Child support is a critical determination necessary to the divorce process and a necessary arrangement for unmarried parents, as well. At Calfas Law Group, our child support lawyers in San Antonio have assisted countless clients with child support issues and ensured that the court had all the information needed to make a fair and suitable decision for all parties. If you and your co-parent are facing a child support concern, it is advised that you both speak to an experienced San Antonio child support attorney today.

Are you fighting for child support? Call Calfas Law Group, PLLC today at (210) 405-8315 or contact us online to schedule a meeting with our child support attorney in San Antonio!

How is Child Support Determined in Texas?

Texas is a guidelines-oriented child support state. Generally, the courts use a formula to determine current and future child support obligations. This formula calculates the guideline child support amount as a percentage of an obligor’s net resources.

To calculate net resources, you take total income minus:

• Social Security taxes and Medicare taxes are paid by the obligor
• Federal income tax
• If the obligor lives in a state that collects state income tax, deduct those
• Union dues, if any
• Health insurance payments or cash medical support paid by the obligor

The next element to determine child support is the total number of children the obligor has and the total number of children PRESENTLY before the court on that specific family law case. (For example, if the obligor has five children from three different mothers and the current case involves only one child, apply the formula for one of five children).

If the court is dealing with one family alone, the calculations tend to be:

• One child - 20% of income
• Two children - 25% of income
• Three children - 30% of income
• Four children - 35% of income
• Five children - 40% of income
• Six children - No Less Than 40% of income

People can often get worked up, demanding increases or decreases to current child support orders. However, before the current orders can be changed, the party asking to change the orders must show a “significant change in circumstances.”

The law assumes the situation is ready to be reviewed for a possible increase/decrease after several years. However, you can come to court sooner if you can show a change in employment status, income, health, marriage status, age of the child, or changing needs of the child.

Knowing your situation's intimate details is important to best defend or attack these claims. You need to know the best approach to get the best results. For example, outside agreements made or said between the parties will often not be enforceable by the court or the other party. The only orders you know are enforceable by contempt and the court and one entered in the court in writing. It is important to ensure you get this done right the first time because cleaning up these mistakes later can be difficult to impossible.