A Child Support Order is typically part of a divorce decree or paternity judgment. A court can order either parent of a child to pay support to other parent. The court order for support is usually payable on a monthly basis. Federal law now requires that the amount of a child support payment be set in accordance with a guideline. Having a guideline is believed to prevent widely different amounts of child support being ordered from courtroom to courtroom.
Guidelines provide an objective basis for the determination of the amount of support to be paid.
As a result, most states have established formulas that are used to determine the amount of the payment from one parent to the other. The formula is based on the respective net incomes of the parents. This page is under construction. Content for this section will be added soon. It provides general legal information to help people understand their legal rights in 100 legal topics, but is not a substitute for personal legal advice from an attorney.