Child Support

Child support is a very important piece of the divorce proceedings. The non-custodial parent must pay child support to their spouse. Keep in mind, this is a payment for your child, not your ex-wife or husband. It is money to insure children of divorce have the care they need and is an obligation not to be taken lightly. For information and access to forms needed, please visit the Attorney General's Child Support web page. To learn what your monthly child support payment will be, you can use the Attorney General's Child Support Calculator page. Remember, failure to pay your child support in Texas has severe consequences; your driver's license can be suspended or you could face jail time.

For questions about claiming your child as a dependent on your taxes

Fighting with your Ex over who gets to claim your kids as dependents on this year’s tax forms?

What you need to know about federal tiebreaker rules for claiming dependents

Normally, the parent who has custody for the majority of the year gets to claim your child as a dependent for tax purposes. But it can be confusing if you share custody with your ex. For example, your children spend equal amounts with both of you - a real "50/50" split. In these instances, the IRS uses what are known as "tiebreaker rules" to determine which parent can claim the children as dependents.

Now, according to the IRS, sometimes a child meets the rules to be a qualifying child of more than one person. A qualifying child must be related to you. If the child is the qualifying child of more than one person, only one person can claim the child as a qualifying child for all of the following tax benefits. This is where the tie-breaker rule comes in.

Under the tie-breaker rule, the child is treated as a qualifying child only by:

The parents if they file a joint return;
The parent, if only one of the persons is the child's parent;
The parent with whom the child lived the longest during the tax year, if two of the persons are the child's parent and they do not file a joint return together.
The parent with the highest average gross income (AGI) if the child lived with each parent for the same amount of time during the tax year, and they do not file a joint return together;
The person with the highest AGI if no parent can claim the child as a qualifying child; or
A person with the higher AGI than any parent who can also claim the child as a qualifying child but does not.

FAQs About Claiming Dependents

What if the parents share physical custody, but the split is not 50/50?

In cases where two parents share physical custody, but the child clearly resides with one parent for more than 50% of the time, then the parent with the greater percentage of parenting time is eligible to claim the child as a dependent for tax purposes.

What should I do if I think that I have the right to claim my child as a dependent, but my ex has already told me that he intends to claim my child anyway?

In this situation, it is best to seek the advice of a professional tax advisory to be sure that you are eligible to claim your child as a dependent. In the event that you've confirmed your eligibility, go ahead and file your taxes, but be prepared to defend yourself in the case of an audit. Generally speaking, when the IRS receives multiple tax returns claiming the same dependent child, they will audit the taxpayer they believe is ineligible to claim the child as a dependent.

What if the parent who is eligible to claim the child as a dependent chooses not to?

Parents who are eligible for claiming dependents can opt to allow the other parent to claim the child or children by completing form 8332, Release/Revocation of Release of Claim to Exemption for Child by Custodial Parent. Click here for form.

Child Support:

· Texas Attorney General's website

· Required Seminars for Cases Involving Children

· Child Support Calculator

· Our Family Wizard - Tools for Co-Parenting

In Texas there is a legal presumption that having frequent, regular contact with both parents is in the best interest for the children. In most situations, both parents are appointed Joint Managing Conservators, otherwise known as joint custody, with shared rights and duties. Often one parent, the possessory parent, is given the right to designate the primary residence of the children within a geographic area. The other parent, the non-possessory parent, has a set visitation schedule.

The most common visitation schedule is referred to as the Standard Possession Order or SPO. Unless the parents agree to an alternative schedule, the SPO allows the possessory conservator to have possession of the children as follows:

Weekends – First, Third and Fifth weekend from Friday at 6pm until Sunday at 6 pm
Weekdays- During the school year, every Thursday night from 6pm-8pm
Spring Breaks – Alternate even and odd years, from 6pm the day school is released until 6pm the day prior to school resuming.
Extended Summer Possession – 30 days in the summer, a minimum of seven days at a time, with one weekend in a 21-day period to be given to the managing conservator. The default time of possession is the month of July.

Holiday time:

Thanksgiving – Alternate even and odd years, from 6pm the day school is released until 6pm the day prior to school resuming.
Christmas – Split Christmas from 6pm the day school is released until noon on December 28, and noon December 28 until 6pm day prior to school resuming.
Mother Day – always Mother’s time, from Friday at 6pm until Sunday at 6pm
Father’s Day – always Dad’s time, from Friday at 6pm until Sunday at 6pm
Child’s Birthday – the parent not otherwise entitled to possession is allowed to have the child from 6pm to 8pm on the child’s birthday.

The SPO is intended to be the minimal amount of time awarded to the possessory parent. There are many customizations that can be made to the visitation schedule to ensure the visitation schedule works for you and your family. Things that may warrant alternative visitation schedules include:

Distance between parent’s homes
Age of children
Work schedules
Conflicting visitation schedules for other children

Mundy Legal Services understands the emotional toll that can occur from a relationship break-up involving children. It is important to have someone who knows the law and sympathizes with your family’s needs. Please give us a call to schedule your consultation so we can answer your questions. We look forward to serving you.

In addition to custody and visitation concerns, child support is an important part of any court order involving children. Child support is not conditional on possession or access. This means child support is owed regardless of how much you see your child. In Texas there are four types of child support that must be addressed in your custody order. These include:

Monthly periodic support – This is the monthly amount that the non-possessory (NP) parent, the obligor, is obligated to pay as child support. The amount owed varies based on the number of children before the court, if there are other children you are obligated to support, and the income level of the NP parent. Depending on the number of other children an obligor has a duty to support, the percentage of child support may be lower.

Multiple Family Adjusted Guidelines (% of Net Resources) Net Monthly Resources x Percentage Below = Monthly Child Support Obligation

Number of other children for whom the obligor has a duty of support	Number of Children Before the Court
			2	3	4	5	6	7
	0	20.00	25.00	30.00	35.00	40.00	40.00	40.00
	1	17.50	22.50	27.38	32.20	37.33	37.71	38.00
	2	16.00	20.63	25.20	30.33	35.43	36.00	36.44
	3	14.75	19.00	24.00	29.00	34.00	34.67	35.20
	4	13.60	18.33	23.14	28.00	32.89	33.60	34.18
	5	13.33	17.86	22.50	27.22	32.00	32.73	33.33
	6	13.14	17.50	22.00	26.60	31.27	32.00	32.62
	7	13.00	17.22	21.60	26.09	30.67	31.38	32.00

The court can look to all sources of income and apply a percentage to the NPs net resources. The net resources are defined as a party’s gross income minus:

Social security taxes;
Federal income taxes based on the tax rate for a single person claiming one personal exemption and the standard deductions;
State income taxes (if applicable);
Union dues (if applicable);
Expenses for the cost of health insurance, dental insurance or cash medical support; and
if the obligor does not pay social security taxes, nondiscretionary retirement plan contributions.

You can calculate your estimated child support by going to the Attorney General calculator

Medical support – The NP parent has the obligation to pay for medical health insurance for all children, either through their own employer or reimbursement of the other party’s costs up to 9% of the non-possessory parent’s net income.

If neither parent has affordable insurance, the possessory parent will be ordered to obtain medical insurance through the state with the non-possessory parent paying a portion of the cost back to the state. The amount to be paid is based on income and the number of children being insured.

Dental support – Beginning in 2018, the Texas Family Code added the obligation for the non-possessory parent to pay for dental insurance for all children, if available through one of the parties’ employment, up to 1.5% of net resources.

Uninsured health reimbursement – How the costs of uninsured health costs will be split is an item to include in your child support order. Uninsured costs may include the cost of copays, prescriptions, office visits, braces, glasses, or medical procedure deductibles. Typically, uninsured health costs are split 50-50 between the parties, but this is something that may be negotiable.

Guideline child support is just that, a guideline. It is an item that can be negotiated between the parties. The judge may also deviate from guideline child support, up or down, based on a variety of factors. Once set and included in an order, child support is a legal obligation and non-payment can lead to many legal ramifications. If you have questions regarding child support, please give Mundy Legal Services a call to schedule your legal consultation. We look forward to serving you.

Child Support Enforcement

Child support is a legal obligation and Texas has severe consequences if child support is not paid timely. Child support is not conditional on possession or access. This means child support is owed regardless of how much you see your child. Either the parent entitled to receive child support or the Attorney General directly, may sue you for unpaid child support through an enforcement action. If found in violation of your court order, the judge may order penalties including:

Interest and fines
Suspension of a license including hunting, fishing and professional
licenses
Garnishment of wages
Seizure of bank account funds
Garnishment of tax returns
Repayment of attorney fees and court costs
Probation
Jail Time

If you find yourself behind on child support, or if your situation has changed and you can’t afford to make your child support payments, don’t ignore the problem! Mundy Legal Services understands that things can happen. It is important to have someone who knows the law and sympathizes with your situation. Please give us a call to schedule your consultation so we can answer your questions. We look forward to serving you