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Child
Support
Divorcing parents often wonder what amount of
child support the court will order the non-custodial parent to pay
after divorce. The Texas Family Code has set up guidelines to aid
the court in setting child support. There is a presumption that the
guidelines are in the best interest of the child. This presumption
may be overcome if it can be shown that application of the
guidelines would be unjust or inappropriate under the circumstances.
Guidelines:
- The guidelines for the support of a child in
this section are specifically designed to apply to situations in
which the obligor's monthly net resources are $7,500 or less.
- If the obligor's monthly net resources are
$7,500 or less, the court shall presumptively apply the
following schedule in rendering the child support order:
2010
Office of Attorney General Tax Charts
are
available for download
here
Child
Support Table Based on the Monthly Net Resources of the Obligor:
1 child: 20% of Obligor's Net Resources
2 children: 25% of Obligor's Net Resources
3 children: 30% of Obligor's Net Resources
4 children: 35% of Obligor's Net Resources
5 children: 40% of Obligor's Net Resources
6+ children: Not less than the amount for 5 children
If the obligor's net resources exceed $7,500 per
month, the court shall presumptively apply the percentage guidelines
to the first $7,500 of the obligor's net resources. The court may
order additional amounts of child support as appropriate, depending
on the income of the parties and the proven needs of the child.
If the child support obligor is responsible for
paying child support for children in more than one household the
court will use different computations to determine the child support
the obligor must pay for the children before the court taking into
consideration the other children whom the obligor responsible for
paying. One of the ways the court can determine child support
in this situation is to use the percentages in the following table:
MULTIPLE FAMILY ADJUSTED
GUIDELINES
(% OF NET RESOURCES) |
| |
Number of children before
the court |
| |
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
| Number |
0 |
20.00 |
25.00 |
30.00 |
35.00 |
40.00 |
40.00 |
40.00 |
| of other |
1 |
17.50 |
22.50 |
27.38 |
32.20 |
37.33 |
37.71 |
38.00 |
| children |
2 |
16.00 |
20.63 |
25.20 |
30.33 |
35.43 |
36.00 |
36.44 |
| for whom |
3 |
14.75 |
19.00 |
24.00 |
29.00 |
34.00 |
34.67 |
35.20 |
| the |
4 |
13.60 |
18.33 |
23.14 |
28.00 |
32.89 |
33.60 |
34.18 |
| obligor |
5 |
13.33 |
17.86 |
22.50 |
27.22 |
32.00 |
32.73 |
33.33 |
| has a |
6 |
13.14 |
17.50 |
22.00 |
26.60 |
31.27 |
32.00 |
32.62 |
| duty of |
7 |
13.00 |
17.22 |
21.60 |
26.09 |
30.67 |
31.38 |
32.00 |
| support |
The court may order either or both parents to
support a child in the manner specified by the order:
- Until the child is 18 years of age or until
graduation from high school, which ever occurs later;
- Until the child is emancipated through
marriage, through removal of the disabilities of minority by
court order, or by operation of law;
- Until the death of the child; or
- If the child is disabled, for an indefinite
period.
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