Child Support Payments: Common Questions & Answers
Posted on: 28 March 2019
When there children involved with a divorce, child support can become part of the equation. If the children live with one parent more than the other or if one parent makes more money than the other, support payments can be necessary to continue the expected and stable financial support of the child. If you know you will be getting child support from the other parent, you likely have something you want to know.
How soon will you start receiving child support after a divorce?
Divorce and child support orders usually happen at different times. In some states, child support issues and custodial arrangements are set during the divorce hearing so everything is done at one time, but this is actually uncommon. Therefore, there can be a lot of factors that affect when you start receiving child support payments after an order for payments has been established. It will also depend on whether or not the other parent makes their payments in a timely fashion.
If you have full custody, do you still get child support?
There is a common misconception that full custody somehow means the other parent relinquishes their rights to the child, but this is not the same thing. Having full legal custody only means that you are the parent that the child lives with and the parent that makes the decisions about the child. The other parent still has financial obligations to help take care of and raise the child or children. In fact, you may even get more child support in some states if you have full custody because the child spends the majority of their time with you.
How much will you get for child support?
Child support payments can vary in amount according to things like:
- The cost of living in the state where you live
- How much the other parent makes
- How many children you have
- How often you have the children in your custody
When you go to court to determine how much child support you should get, the judge will look at all of these factors and set up payments according to the circumstances. Child support payments can change over time and when personal circumstances change with either one or both parents. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average monthly child support payment is $430 per child. However, this is just an average figure, so your payments could be less or more.
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