Texas Child Support

What is Child Support?

• In the scope of family Texas law and government policy, child support constitutes the ongoing practice for a periodic payment, delivered directly by the paying party (obligor) to a receiving party (oblige) for the financial support of children in a relationship or marriage that has been dissolved.

• Each state possesses unique intricacies attached to the delivery and construction of a child support payment plan.

• Typically, the individual paying the child-support is a non-custodial parent and the party receiving the funds is a custodial parent, guardian, or government agency. When a marriage or relationship that involves a child is terminated, both parties must come together to legally resolve custody issues and in some cases, the delivery of child-support. The court system of the particular jurisdiction in which the parents reside, will order one parent to pay the other an established amount for the financial support of their child.

What are Texas Child Support Laws?

• Texas Child Support laws will evaluate a few factors in regards to the amount of support owed. The obligor’s monthly Net Income, the custodial parent’s monthly Net Income, the amount of children in the case, and the percentage of time the children are under each parent’s control are the predominant factors associated with child support laws and subsequent calculations in Texas.

• A Texas Child Support case will evaluate the costs of caring for the child, but will not include such factors as the obligor’s rent or mortgage and will not include any unnecessary expenses into the child support calculation. Unnecessary expenditures include discretionary extra circular expenses, such as dance lessons or sporting equipment, into the child support calculation.

• All Texas child support cases are administered through a local family court—typically the family court of the jurisdiction in which the individual’s reside will be the location of their child support hearing.

• A failure to satisfy Texas child support will result in wage garnishment. The obligor’s employer will be notified, and a coordinating portion of the obligor’s salary will be delivered to the Texas Family Division. The state agency will then transfer the child support payments to the custodial parent.