As per law, both parents have to guarantee a proper and standard lifestyle for their children to ensure proper growth. When parents are together, it doesn’t become an issue. But when they get separated, the issue of child support comes up.
Typically, child support refers to the financial support of a child after the divorce or separation of parents, regardless of where they live. It doesn’t include emotional or mental support or physical care.
In most cases, the court orders one parent to keep children according to the child’s interest and the other parent to provide financial support for a standard of living for the mental and physical growth of the child.
When one parent can’t or doesn’t provide the financial support for a proper lifestyle for the child, problems arise. In such cases, you can take help from a child support attorney to file a lawsuit claiming enough amount for child support.
What is a Child Support Attorney or Lawyer?
A child support attorney is a family law attorney specializing in child support cases. They have experience handling child support cases and working for the children’s interests.
They handle several issues in child support cases. For example- if your ex-partner doesn’t want to provide financial support for the child, they can help you. Also, if you think that the support amount our ex is paying is lower than required, they can help you by recalculating the amount.
They do the opposite too. If you think you’re paying more than required, they can help calculate it.
What Can Child Support Lawyer do?
A child support lawyer can help you with a lot of issues regarding financial support for your child. No matter which parent you are, they can help you with what you need. They help you by-
Determining the Amount of Support
Typically, the amount of child support provided by each parent is measured by the court, focusing on several factors, like- the annual income of both parents, the child’s needs, the time each parent spends with the child, etc.
But you may think that the amount should be different. In such cases, you can take the help of a lawyer who works with child support. They can recalculate the amount.
Enforcement of Child Support Orders
It is very common that the ex-partner doesn’t maintain responsibility regarding child support. This resistance comes in many ways, like- they don’t ensure enough support or send the money timely. In many cases, they don’t send money at all.
A lawyer who works with child support cases can also help you with such events. If you see such issues in your ex-partner, take the help of a lawyer to ensure enforcement of the order.
Collection of Due Child Support
If the ex misses to pay child support and it becomes due for months, the lawyer can assist you with collecting the due amount. Lawful action can be taken in such cases. So, without any hesitation, take the help of a lawyer who works with child support cases if you think the gaps in payment are intentional.
Modification of Child Support Order
Financial and other situations of one or both parents may happen with time. As a result, you may expect a modification in the order designed based on the previous condition. It is a complex process. But this can be a bit easier when you have a lawyer having experience with child support cases.
So, take the help of one if you think a modification of the order is necessary.
Fixing Parentage Disputes
Sometimes, a parent, especially the father, may challenge the biological relationship with the child. A child support lawyer can help you settle the dispute in such cases. For this, they can gather evidence and prove the parentship. Also, they can help both parents to discuss and settle the issue.
Which Factors Influence Child Support Count?
The amount of child support depends on several factors. Also, based on the state, the factors vary. So, calculating the amount may be tough for you.
However, lawyers with experience in child support cases can calculate the amount by focusing on the most common factors. The factors are-
- Number of children involved in the case
- Total income of both parents
- Allocation of parenting time
- Type of custody
- Social security and other benefits
- Medical and dental insurance coverage
- Other expenses regarding the child
- Childcare costs
These are not the only factors, though. Depending on your case, you may find several other factors influencing the support amount. The child’s interest also has an impact on it.
What are the Must-Haves of a Lawyer for Child Support?
When you’re searching for someone to support you with child support cases, you must make sure that the person has some traits that’ll bring a good result. Some of the must-haves of them are-
Knowledge: The lawyer must know family law and child support law in your state. Legal policies differ from state to state. So, someone who studied from a different state with less experience in your state may not help you well.
Instead, you should look for someone who studied in your state so that the knowledge about the legal issues in your state is clear to them.
Experience: Picking someone with low experience may help you save some bucks but may result in sacrificing victory. Someone experienced with family law and child support law can help you better. Experience always matters.
Pick someone who has been practicing in your state for a long time.
Reputation: Someone well-known can help you better than someone people don’t know much about. Famous lawyers have gathered a reputation because of their success in the field. So, try to pick someone reputed.
Reputation also helps them search for information that can help the case.
Specialization: If the lawyer has specialization in child support cases, you can expect a better result. Practicing in a field regularly helps them to understand and defend the situation better than someone who practices in multiple fields.
How to Choose the Best Child Support Lawyer?
Choosing the best lawyer is a step-by-step process. You need to be careful and focused while following the process. Let’s see how you can pick the best lawyer for such cases.
Step 1- Get Recommendations
In the first step, search for recommendations. Search engines will help you with many names who practice such cases. Also, if you know someone who has gone through separation, ask them for suggestions.
Your local bar community can help you with suggestions too. If you know a lawyer, ask for their recommendations.
Make a list of the lawyers from the suggestions.
Step 2- Primary Evaluation
Now it’s time to perform a primary evaluation. Search for the websites of the lawyers on your list. Most of them have websites nowadays where you’ll learn more about them. Try to check their experience, education, and specialization. Also, you may know about their recent cases.
Websites show reviews too. However, for more trustworthy reviews, go to websites that are made to review services. You may find some websites built for reviewing legal services only. Check reviews and ratings there to evaluate their service.
Based on these, pick the top 4-5 lawyers with whom you’ll communicate directly.
Step 3- Direct Communication
In this step, you’ll communicate with the lawyer directly. Most of them offer free consultation sessions. Take this advantage to talk to them directly.
In this session, you should ask some mandatory questions about their experience, success rate, what to do in the next step, etc. I’ve discussed those questions later.
Focus on their communication skills and your comfort.
Step 4- Selecting One
After a face-to-face session with the top 4-5 on your list, you’ll know whom to pick. Select the best and proceed further.
Questions to Ask a Child Support Lawyer
How many child support cases have you handled? What’s your success rate?
Asking about their experience and success rate is nothing wrong. You should ask about the approximate number of similar cases they’ve handled and the success rate to know whether they’re compatible.
Will you handle my case?
In large firms, the person talking to you may not handle your case. He is a firm representative who later describes your case to the person handling it. So, you need to ask this question to be sure about it. Try to discuss the case with the person who’ll represent you in court.
The same thing may happen when you go to renowned lawyers. In most cases, their representative may talk to you, especially in the first meeting.
What should I do next?
After describing your situation, ask this question to know their probable approach to handling the case. Here, they’ll suggest to you exactly the thing they would do.
See their approach. Also, you may ask them about the easiest possible solution.
Have you recently handled a case like mine? What was the result?
All child support cases are not similar. Your case can be unique or almost unique compared to others. So, ask them if they’ve recently dealt with a similar case. Also, ask for the result to better understand their expertise.
How often should we meet?
Meeting your lawyer is an important part of your case. But meeting frequently can’t be possible when they handle multiple cases simultaneously. Talk to them and get a clear idea about it. Try to pick someone who allows you to meet them often in anything regarding the case.
What is your fee structure? How much do you expect?
Talking about the fee structure and approximate fee of the lawyer helps you understand your cost in the case. However, the fee structure can be different. I’ve discussed it in the next section. Try to select someone who offers you the most flexible payment system.
How Much Does a Child Support Lawyer Cost?
Child support lawyers may ask for an hourly fee or flat fee in most cases. Depending on various issues, the hourly fee can be anything between $100 and $500. In most cases, this results in a total fee of $2,000 to $5,000. However, in cases that take a long time, the overall fee may go up to $18,000-$20,000.
On the other hand, a flat fee can be anything between $1,500 to $3,000. However, some may ask for a fee out of this range.
Going for a flat fee is better as you don’t know how long the case can take.
The amount a lawyer charges depends on several factors, including-
- The type of conflict
- The state you live in
- The possible time needed to work on the case
- Travel cost
- Experience of the lawyer
- The success rate of the lawyer, etc.
What are the Other Costs associated with a Child Support Case?
Besides the lawyer’s fee, several costs are associated with such a case.
Travel Cost: Travel cost is the costs associated with your travel to the court, the lawyer’s chamber, and other places regarding the case. This may seem small, but if the case takes a long time, the accumulated amount can be huge.
Court Cost: You should pay a filing charge when a case is filed in court. Several other charges are associated with the process. You’ll have to spend bucks for those.
Court costs can vary based on the type of case.
Specialists and Professional Witness: Based on the type of your case, you may need a professional witness or specialist for the case. For example, the court may ask for the statement of a child psychologist for the case. In this situation, you’ll have to bear the psychologist’s fee.
If they have to be present in court, you’ll have to pay them at an hourly rate. Also, travel costs should be added in most cases.
Miscellaneous Cost: Depending on the situation, there might be several other fields where you need to spend bucks. Such miscellaneous costs should be added to the list too. The total miscellaneous cost for a case can be anything between $300 and $1,000.
Should I Get a Lawyer for Child Support?
You might be able to handle child support cases alone, but sometimes you need a lawyer. It depends on several factors. Before deciding about it, check the factors below.
The Case is Complicated: If the situation is complicated, for example- your ex doesn’t agree with the child support amount or other arrangements, you must go deeper to fight them. In such a case, having a lawyer helps you because they can use their deeper knowledge of child support law to defend the appropriate arrangement.
Calculation of Child Support Amount: If you don’t have any prior experience, you don’t know how to calculate the child support amount. The other party may use legal expertise to manipulate the amount in such a situation.
Without a lawyer, it’ll be tough for you to arrange a logical amount.
Your Ex has a Lawyer: Defending a case against a lawyer will be very tough for you because they know how to handle such cases. So, you must take the help of a lawyer when your ex-partner hires a lawyer for the case.
Modification of Child Support: The child support arranged by the court may need some modification with time. The reason is- income doesn’t remain the same always. Also, the price of money decreases continuously.
Handling such cases would be very difficult for you if you don’t have any prior experience. In this situation, hire a lawyer for a better result.
Overall, hiring a lawyer for child support helps you, but it is not a must. If you think you need a lawyer and can afford one, go for it. However, it is not mandatory to hire one. The court is responsible enough to arrange proper support for your child.
You May Also Like: Child Custody Lawyer
What If I Can’t Afford a Lawyer?
In case you can’t afford a lawyer but feel the necessity, you can try several ways. For example- you can ask for a court-appointed lawyer. This doesn’t guarantee you’ll get one, as the court doesn’t offer such benefits for most child support cases.
However, you have some other ways too. You can try-
Getting a Pro Bono Lawyer: Lawyers often provide Pro Bono service, offering the same service at half or less cost. Sometimes, they do it for free. They do this for the public good or to gain experience. You can try such offers.
Searching for Discount Offers: Sometimes, lawyers offer services at a discounted rate for any occasion, like the new year, the law firm’s anniversary, etc. You can try hiring them during such discount offers. If you get a good discount, your cost will be half.
Checking Law Schools: Law schools often offer to handle a case for free. They do this to use the case as a case study. You can try such opportunities. Check the law schools around you for such offers. Don’t worry. They’ll similarly prioritize your case.
Charities: Some lawyers or law firms offer charity services for people from a specific population. You can try their service. Charity services come at a very low cost. Or maybe you’ll get the service for free. Keep your eyes open for such an opportunity. Also, search using search engines for such options.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How long does it take to settle a child support case?
The court tries to fix such cases early because too long may impact the child’s mind. A child support case typically takes around two weeks to two months. In some situations, it may take around 4-5 months.
Does child support change automatically if a parent loses job?
Child support doesn’t change automatically, no matter what happens. If one of the parents loses job or faces any financial hassle, they can apply for modification of the amount with proper proof. Such cases may become a bit more complex than regular child support cases. So, having a lawyer is recommended.
Does child support end automatically when the child turns into an adult?
In the child support settlement, the court included the deadline for child support, which is the day the child turns into an adult. So, after then, the child support order automatically ends.
However, if the child has a mental or physical illness, the support may continue based on the court’s order.