| If you are a parent about to get a divorce, Florida's | | | | Additional support for day care, health insurance and |
| Child Support Guidelines take the mystery out of "how" | | | | uncovered medical expenses for the child are then |
| child support is calculated. What follows is a simplified | | | | taken into account, if applicable. Any such amounts are |
| explanation meant as an overview and not an | | | | then added to the basic support. (Note: for purposes |
| exhaustive treatment on calculating child support; it | | | | of the cost of day care, only 75% of the total cost is |
| may provide you a starting point in becoming informed | | | | used in this step). |
| about the issue. | | | | The third step involves a calculation to determine what |
| Child support in Florida is established in Section 61.30, of | | | | percentage of your income-and the other parent's |
| the Florida Statutes. The Statute provides a | | | | income-makes up the global net income amount. The |
| framework, or Guidelines, to determine the financial | | | | percentage for each parent is then applied to the basic |
| obligation each parent has to their child or children. First, | | | | child support obligation determined by the table in the |
| it provides a formula for arriving at your gross income | | | | first step, above; and is also applied to any amount |
| by providing a list of what income will be taken into | | | | spent on day care, health insurance, etc. Your individual |
| account. It also provides a list of acceptable deductions | | | | child support obligation is the result of multiplying your |
| from that income. The result is your net income for | | | | percentage by the basic amount and the other items |
| purposes of child support. The calculation is performed | | | | (day care, health, etc). |
| on both parents' income. | | | | The process is the same when it comes time to |
| Second, both parents' net income is combined. This | | | | modify child support, except that the Statute provides |
| global net income amount is used to determine both | | | | that any proposed change to the amount of support |
| parties' support obligation-not the individual obligation of | | | | needs to meet a certain minimum amount or |
| each parent-according to the number of children they | | | | percentage before support is raised or lowered. |
| have in common using a table incorporated in the | | | | So, if parents have an obligation to support their |
| statute. The resulting amount is the basic child support | | | | children and there is a formula to calculate it, what is |
| obligation of both parents. | | | | the fight about? See part 2 of this article. |