It’s estimated that one in four people are overpaying for their child support. In Florida, the calculation of child support is somewhat complicated. Sometimes the original child support calculation may be done incorrectly. You know, sometimes they’re done based on assumptions and when you compare those assumptions to reality, you may find that the resulting child support figure is way out of line. Other times, maybe the original calculation was done correctly, and things have changed since that original order was entered that justifies a change in the Child Support amount.
If you’re the payor of child support, maybe you’ve had an involuntary decrease in your income such as you’ve been let go, you’ve been demoted, you’ve been disabled, various reasons that you have a decrease in the amount of income that you receive and that can go into factor for changing your child support. Maybe the number of overnights that you have the child or children has changed. If you’re the payer, if you have more overnights that may justify a change in your child support, that change means lower. There may also be other changes in circumstances like the reduction or the elimination of daycare expenses that went into the original calculation, or the reduction in cost or elimination of health insurance premiums that are paid for the child or children. Again, those most likely went into the original.
If you want to know where you stand, you need to recalculate your child support based on actual current figures. Figures such as your income, the other parent’s income, the number of overnights that the children spend with each parent, as well as any daycare or health insurance costs for the children. Florida statute 61.30B provides that if the Child Support calculation currently done in accordance with the Florida Child Support guidelines is 15% or $50 different from the original then that would be a basis or a description of a substantial change in circumstances and a basis warranting changing your child support amount. Now, to calculate your current obligation or what it should be, download the free Florida Child support calculator below, run your numbers and see what you should be paying.