Child Support in Texas

As much as we would like to believe that our marriages and families would remain strong and intact, the statistics prove that today married couples are as likely to divorce as not. When children are involved, both the emotional and financial aspects of divorce become even more complex.

In Texas, the law clearly defines the financial obligations of divorced parents regarding their children. The following is a broad overview of Texas law on the subject.

The Texas Family Code provides for the non custodial parent to support his/her children as follows: pay a dollar amount of child support; provide health insurance for the child, or if he/she chooses, to pay the custodial parent for the cost of the custodial parent's health insurance coverage for the child; and pay 50% of non covered medical expenses, such as co-pays, deductibles, etc.

The dollar amount of child support is calculated by multiplying a percentage (see below) times the "net resources" of the non custodial parent, regardless of how much or how little the custodial parent earns. Net resources, which can also include passive income received, such as rents, interest, dividends, is obtained from a chart published in the Family Code The chart subtracts from gross pay and other revenues deductions for federal taxes of FICA, Medicare, and withholding for a single person with one deduction. The FICA, Medicare and withholding amounts are established by the Internal Revenue Service.

The percentage is arbitrarily set in the Family Code at 20% for one child, 25% for two children, and increasing 5% for each additional child up to 40% for 5 children. A lesser percentage applies when the paying parent has other children not the issue of this marriage for whom he/she is legally responsible.

The Court can order additional support if the court determines that a child has special needs, such as required ongoing health care or education expenses.

A receiving parent does not have to account to the court or the paying parent as to how the money he/she spend the money received. The law assumes that the receiving parent has ongoing expenses to pay to support the child (housing, utilities, clothing, food, etc), which in all likelihood are more than the child support paid.

Either parent can modify child support, either to raise it or to lower it, by a motion properly filed. The party seeking the change must show that there has been a material change in circumstances since the entry of the order or decree he seeks to modify. How do you know if you should file a Motion to increase the child support?

Sometimes it is difficult to know if the paying parent has a substantial increase in pay, either because of receiving raises, or obtaining a new job. Even your observation of the paying party's seemingly expensive trips, purchase of a new car or a new home can be deceiving. These can all be purchased on credit. So know that, before you spend the money to seek an increase, appearances may not be all that they seem.

A paying party can reduce the amount of child support because of a reduction in pay, or a disability that reduces his pay from what he/she earned at the time the prior order or decree was entered. However, a defense to such a motion can be that the paying party is "underemployed", that is, has purposefully obtained a job that does not pay approximately what he/she is capable of earning.

The subsequent marriage by a paying party does not effect the child support calculations. The income of the new spouse will not be considered as part of the paying party's income. The fact that the paying party marries someone who has a child by a prior relationship likewise does not effect the calculation.

Child support payments cease when the child attains age 18, but will continue until the child graduates from high school, so long as the child is fully enrolled in a school leading toward a high school education.

Monies that the paying party pays to or for the benefit of the child other than the dollar amount of required support does not count as an offset to the dollar amount otherwise required. Also, extra expenses such as camp fees, school extracurricular activities fees, graduation costs, car payments, and car insurance are the responsibility the custodial parent.

Most parents want their children to obtain a college degree. However, the Family Code does not require either party to pay college expenses for a child. The child becomes an adult at age 18, and is not the legal responsibility of either parent.

The Internal Revenue Code states that the custodial parent has the right to claim the child as a dependent on his/her tax return. A divorce court will not override this provision in the Code. However, parties can agree otherwise. The person who can better use the tax exemption could agree to pay more support or even contractual alimony in exchange for the exemption. It is imperative for the receiving party who agrees to change the IRS scheme to sign a specific form which the paying party will file with his/her tax return.