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How to Calculate Child Support for Divorce
To calculate child support for a divorce in Texas, you need to take in to account the pre-existing guidelines that take a number of factors in to consideration.
Divorce is a tough and often an emotional process. Whatever the reason for the divorce, a number of factors are put in to consideration to calculate child support.
Level of IncomeOne of the factors used to calculate child support in Texas is your level of income. In most divorce cases, the income of the noncustodial parent is considered for child support. Income will include not only salaried income, but also: bonuses, commissions, tips, overtime and other additions to your total income. Other types of income that can be considered in a divorce are:
- Rental income
- Trust income
- Royalties
- Dividends
- Interest
- Severance pay
- Social Security benefits
- Unemployment
- Disability or workers’ compensation benefits
- Self-employment income
- Spousal maintenance or alimony
Retirement pensions are also used to calculate child support as well as prizes or cash.
For those that are unemployed or underemployed, the court will impute income or credit income to those individuals. If you are unemployed, the court will impute income taking into consideration the minimum wage, while if you are underemployed, the court will impute income based on your earning potential, and not the actual income. To establish the level of imputed income, the court will consider the reason for unemployment or underemployment, earning potential had the marriage lasted, ages of the children and other assets that the parent may use to support himself or herself.
Incomes That are ExcludedFood stamps, welfare benefits or other forms of federal public assistance are not considered income. If an individual is currently fostering a child, the payments received are also excluded from calculation. If a person has remarried the new spouses income is not considered in child support payments.
If you have any questions regarding child support, divorce or any other area of family law, please contact us today. You may also complete a form for a FREE consultation about your case.
