Child Support/Custody

If you have children of the marriage, child support and child custody will have to be determined as part of your divorce. We understand the tough, and often very emotional, situation you may already be in while going through a divorce, so our attorneys always handle child support and custody issues with special care and attention, to ensure that the final outcome is in fact, in the best interest of the child.

In a divorce case, one party is usually required to pay child support. Generally, it is the non-custodial parent. Child support is usually determined by multiplying combined gross parental income by the child support percentages. If the child has special needs, additional factors may be considered in adjusting and raising the child support.

Child support obligation ends when the child reaches 21 years of age, or is legally emancipated.

Failure to pay child support, may lead to wage garnishments, property liens or even criminal charges.

There are two types of child custody: legal and physical. Legal custody refers to child's lifestyle decision making, which may include education, religion, or medical decisions. Physical custody refers to who the child will be living with. Parents may opt to have joint legal custody, where both will be involved in the decision making. They may also have joint physical custody, where the child lives with each parent half of the time, however, more often only one parent has full physical custody, while the other has visitation rights.