Silver Spring Child Support Lawyers

Attorneys Helping to Ensure That Children Receive the Proper Amount of Child Support in Silver Spring, MD

In family law cases involving children, some of the most pressing questions that parents may face will be related to how children's financial needs will be met going forward. Child support orders will typically be established to ensure that both parents will continue to contribute to the costs of raising their children. These cases may involve disputes over income, expenses, and whether a parent is being honest about their finances. The lawyers at Diamant Gerstein, LLC can help parents navigate these disputes and establish child support orders that will meet their children's needs.

The Purpose of Child Support

Family courts will typically take steps to ensure that children will continue to benefit from the income earned by both of their parents, regardless of whether they will be living with one parent most of the time or dividing their time equally between both parents' households. By establishing child support orders, courts work to ensure that children will not experience a decline in their standard of living when their parents are no longer together.

Maryland's child support guidelines use an "income shares" model that estimates the amount that parents would be likely to spend to provide for their children if they were still living under one roof. This amount is divided between the parents based on their respective incomes. Most of the time, one parent will make ongoing child support payments to the other parent.

How Maryland Courts Calculate Support

The guidelines courts follow when calculating child support generally involve the following steps:

• Determining each parent's actual income, including their wages, salary, commissions, bonuses, and income from self-employment or other sources.
• Adjusting each parent's income to address any existing child support or alimony obligations.
• Combining the adjusted incomes of both parents and using that figure to determine a basic child support obligation that represents the amount that parents would typically spend to provide for children's needs.
• Dividing the basic child support obligation between the parents in proportion to their incomes.

Additional Expenses That May Be Factored Into a Child Support Order

The amount of child support calculated using the income shares model may not fully address the costs involved in raising children. Maryland courts may adjust child support to account for certain expenses, including:

• Health Insurance: Parents will usually be required to divide the actual costs of providing medical, dental, and vision coverage for their children.
• Medical Expenses: Certain types of medical costs that may not be covered by insurance may be divided between parents, including orthodontic care, physical therapy, treatment for chronic conditions, and mental health counseling.
• Work-Related Childcare Costs: Expenses for daycare, after-school care, nannies, babysitters, or other forms of childcare that are needed while a parent is working may be shared by both parents.
• Educational Expenses: Costs such as private school tuition, school supplies, or educational fees may also be divided between parents.

When determining how different types of expenses may be addressed, our attorneys can help clients gather receipts, insurance statements, records related to medical treatment, and other forms of documentation. By providing an accurate picture of the actual expenses required to address children's needs, we can make sure child support orders will cover these costs.

Responding to a Co-Parent Who Manipulates the Process to Reduce Support

Parents who exhibit narcissistic or manipulative tendencies may sometimes treat child support proceedings as an opportunity to control or punish the other parent. A parent may underreport their income, quit their job or reduce their hours, hide self-employment earnings, or dispute expenses.

If a parent is unemployed or is working below their earning capacity without a good reason, the court may impute income to that parent. Child support may be calculated based on what a parent is capable of earning rather than what they have claimed they are currently earning.

Our lawyers know how to respond to attempts by parents to manipulate child support. We can use financial discovery tools, including requests for tax returns, bank records, business records, and pay stubs, to uncover a parent's true income. We can present evidence of a parent's work history, education, and earning potential to ensure that their income will be imputed correctly.

Enforcing Child Support

When a parent falls behind on court-ordered child support, the other parent may take legal action to collect what is owed. Our attorneys can provide guidance on the enforcement measures that may be available, including:

• Wage garnishment orders that will require a parent's employer to deduct child support payments directly from their paycheck
• Interception of federal and state tax refunds
• Suspension of a parent's driver's license, professional license, or other licenses until they take steps to pay child support that is owed
• Reporting past-due support to credit bureaus
• Placing liens on a parent's property or seizing their bank accounts
• Civil contempt proceedings, which can result in fines or incarceration when a parent has willfully refused to pay child support

We can help clients file the necessary motions to enforce child support orders. We can provide guidance on when it may be possible to request a contempt hearing, and we will make sure the right measures are taken to collect unpaid child support.

Contact Our Silver Spring, Maryland Child Support Attorneys

If you need to put a new child support order in place during a divorce or when addressing concerns related to child custody, or if you are looking to modify or enforce child support, the attorneys at Diamant Gerstein, LLC are here to help with your case. We can provide you with effective legal representation and make sure your child support order will meet your children's ongoing needs. Contact our Silver Spring child support lawyers at 301-560-2685 to arrange your consultation with our team.