Issues with child support and custody can be difficult for parents. Both parents need to take the financial responsibility to ensure their children can be raised with their needs met and the resources they will need to succeed. The Law Office of David Pedrazas in Salt Lake City, Utah can help you navigate the child support system and help make sure your children receive the support they need while ensuring you are making fully informed choices about your case.
What Is Child Support?
Child support was created because all children have the legal right to financial support from their parents. When parents separate, they are no longer financially supporting the children together, so alternate means need to be created which results in a child support agreement. In typical custody arrangements, one parent will be given primary custody and the other parent will typically pay a court-ordered financial agreement which constitutes child support.
Whether you are planning to receive child support payments or if you will likely be ordered to pay, contact us at the Law Office of David Pedrazas. Having an experienced Utah child support attorney on your side can make an enormous difference in determining whether you receive a court order that is fair and that allows you to move on from your divorce in a position of financial stability.
What Does Child Support Cover?
For many reasons, during a divorce it is important to enlist the help of a Utah child support lawyer. When parents get divorced, both of them are legally responsible to continue to provide for the well-being of their children. One of the parents will normally be ordered to pay child support to the other, since one of them will normally receive primary custody of the children and will therefore require assistance in paying for their food, clothing, shelter, education and medical care as well as other daily living expenses. Both parents want to see that the children are able to enjoy an acceptable standard of living, but neither one wants to be shouldered with an unfair share of the burden of support.
Under Utah child support laws, there are many factors that come into play when determining what child support covers. While there is the obvious weekly or monthly amount determined by the Utah child support worksheet, a child support agreement will often cover other items and issues such as:
- Which parent is allowed to claim the children as exemptions on their tax return. – At the end of the year, parents can claim an exemption for dependents. Each dependent can only be claimed once so the court will often determine who can take these exemptions each year.
- Which parent is responsible for ensuring that the children will be covered by medical insurance. The premium amounts for the children as well as additional medical expenses such as copays and deductibles are often split between the parents.
How Much Will I Pay in Child Support Payments?
When determining what percentage is child support, you will need to use the Utah child support calculator. The amount a parent will be required to pay will be based on several factors including:
- Base payment
- Medical expenses
- Child care expenses
- Parental income
- Other child support or alimony payments
- What percentage of custody was awarded
The court will provide you with an interactive calculator and child support worksheets to help you make calculations. To make sure you are determining your amount correctly, you need to ensure that you have picked the right forms for your specific type of custody arrangement.
Can My Child Support Payments Be Changed?
Child support modification is possible but often requires there to be a significant change in the income or expenses of the parent that is making the support payments. To be able to seek out modification, you will need to be able to prove that there was not only a significant change but that the changes are expected to be permanent which means lasting at least a year or longer.
Modification and Enforcement of Child Support
The amount of child support is determined based on calculations of each parent’s gross income, and both parties are expected to provide as much support as possible based on their financial means and available resources. Child support payments may include an amount to provide for the costs of child care, so that the custodial parent may be permitted to work or pursue education. The child support court order includes a provision to provide for automatic withholding from the wages of the parent who is ordered to pay.
How Can Utah Child Support Attorneys Help You?
In the event that your children’s needs have increased and that you now require additional money to provide for them, an attorney from our firm can represent you in court with a petition to modify the existing order. Similarly, if you have been ordered to pay and can no longer afford to sustain the ordered payment amount, or if you have learned that the custodial parent is now earning more money, a Utah child support attorney can help you petition the judge for a modification to reduce the child support amount. It is also possible to bring an action in court to enforce a child support order if the paying parent has fallen behind or has become delinquent in making the payments. The result of a child support enforcement action may be a judgment in favor of the recipient, making it possible to obtain a wage garnishment or a lien on the other party’s property. Alternatively, the paying parent may be charged with contempt of court and could be fined or even taken to jail.
Child Support Lawyers Utah
Don’t wait to call a Utah child support attorney, receive the help you need from David Pedrazas today!
Contact Salt Lake City, Utah Child Support Lawyer, David Pedrazas
Child support payments can be difficult to change and stay in effect for a significant amount of time. While it is important to make sure that your children have all the financial resources they need to succeed, a child support attorney in Utah can help you navigate the agreement to provide proper support for your children while ensuring that your other financial responsibilities can still be met. Whether you need help modifying back child support, or need assistance receiving back child support, at the Law Office of David Pedrazas, PLLC.in Salt Lake City, we are committed to helping our clients move forward in their life by offering the real help they need. If you are going through a divorce, contact the Law Office of David Pedrazas, PLLC today to schedule a Legal Case Review.
