Child Support Lawyer in Spokane, Washington
The obligation of parents to support their children is deeply ingrained in the law. The duty of child support has occasionally been said to be based on the belief that the duty to support children should rest on the parents.
Child support may become an issue in several ways, including divorce cases, parenting plan modifications, paternity actions, third party custody matters and relocations. Washington courts are required to ensure that an appropriate transfer payment is allocated for the care of the children.
Connie Powell is a child support lawyer in Spokane, Washington who will work closely with you to help you understand your rights and work to get the proper child support set in your particular case.
Child support is based on a statutory formula taking into consideration the net income of the parties, age and number of the biological children involved. The parents’ net incomes will determine the amount of basic support to be paid and the proportion of such support each parent will be responsible to pay. Determining a net income may be difficult when a party is unemployed, underemployed, or receives other irregular income. Once the net income of the parties is determined, the child support schedules are used to determine the basic child support obligation for each child. Each parent’s child support obligation is based on their proportional share of income.
In addition to the basic child support obligations, parents will also share in the additional expenses of their children, often referred to as “extraordinary expenses.” These expenses do not fall under the category of child support, however, they are also based on the net income of the parents. Typically, each parent pays their proportionate share for extraordinary expenses.
There are times when the court allows you to deviate from a standard calculation of child support. The court can order an upward deviation or a downward deviation, depending on your individual circumstances. Specifically, you may have a child who spends a significant amount of time with you or you may have children from other relationships and you owe a duty to support those children. There are also other ways in which a deviation in child support from the standard calculation may be appropriate.
After child support is established, the information is reduced to a child support order. This order also allocates which parent is entitled to claim the children as dependents for federal income tax purposes. The court may also order a party to sign a federal income tax dependency exemption waiver. The court may divide the exemptions between the parties, alternate the exemptions between the parties, or both. The parties may also agree.
Connie Powell is a child support lawyer in Spokane, Washington who will work closely with you to help you understand your rights and get your children the proper child support pursuant to the child support guidelines and taking into account your special circumstances. It is important that you obtain a lawyer to advise you of your rights, perform a child support calculation on your behalf, submit all documentation to the court, gather the evidence of your spouse’s income through discovery, and identify any potential basis for a deviation.
Enforcing Child Support Orders:
When the parent charged with paying child support fails to make their payments or fails to make them on time, a contempt action may be appropriate. Connie L. Powell has handled many enforcement and contempt actions. To evaluate your rights and duties under your child support order, contact Connie L. Powell, an attorney in Spokane, Washington who will work closely with you to either enforce or defend these actions.
For information on child support modification in Spokane Washington, click here.
