Tarrant County Child Support Lawyer

Experience in Child Support Proceedings and Enforcement

Cody will fight to get you the support your child needs or fight to protect you from outrageous child support demands.  Cody is well versed in the many sources for the law concerning child support proceedings.  These sources include statutes such as the Texas Child Support Guidelines, the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, and Rules of Civil Evidence, and appellate court cases.  The family law courts’ application of these child support rules is not completely uniform throughout the Texas.  Many matters are left to the discretion of the family law courts. For example, family law courts vary in the manner in which they give statutory precedence to final child support hearings.  Final orders can often be modified to serve the best interest of the child.  Further, Texas family law courts vary in the manner in which they apply the Texas Child Support Guidelines.  Because of the variations in local rules and other practices it is generally beneficial for you to select an attorney that is familiar with the jurisdiction where your case should be filed.  Cody is familiar with Tarrant, Denton, Collin, Wise, Dallas, Parker, Johnson, and Hood counties.

Amount of Support Generally

Cody will fight to get the appropriate child support ordered in your case.  You can benefit from having a child support lawyer to represent you through child support negotiations and any hearings required by the court.  The family law court will consider the child support guidelines along with appropriate factors to determine the amount of child support.  Tex. Family Code §§ 154.121-123.  The child support guidelines provide greater uniformity in child support orders. However, different family law courts often arrive at different amounts of support even in substantially identical circumstances.  This can benefit or burden you.  This is why it is important to have a skilled attorney representing you during the process of getting the child support amount set.  The child support guidelines themselves leave room for a certain amount of the family law judge’s discretion. Many judges do not like a mechanical approach to setting the amount of child support.  Some courts go as far as setting and applying their own child support guidelines.  As a result, there is a lot of room for variation in amount of child support ordered and variation in the extent the guidelines are followed.  It behooves you to select an attorney that is very familiar with the approach taken in the family law court in which your child support case will be heard.  Cody is familiar with Tarrant, Denton, Collin, Wise, Dallas, Parker, Johnson, and Hood counties.  When a family law court varies from the amount computed by applying the child support percentage guidelines, or if your child support lawyer files a written request within 10 days after the child support hearing date (or if your child support lawyer makes the appropriate request in open court during the hearing), the family law court must make findings stating whether the application of the child support guidelines would be unjust or inappropriate and must make appropriate findings.  Tex. Family Code § 154.130.  These findings must include: what amount the family law court determined was the obligor’s (the person owing child support) monthly net resources; what amount the family law court determined was the obligee’s (the person receiving child support payments) monthly net resources; the percentage applied to the obligor’s monthly net resources for child support by the actual child support order rendered by the court; the amount that the child support would be if the percentage guidelines were applied to certain amount of the obligors net resources.  Then if applicable, the family law court must state specific reasons that the monthly amount of child support varies from the amount of the percentage guidelines.  Further, if applicable, that the obligor must pay to support children in more than one household, and the family law court determines the number of children before the court, the number of children not before the court residing in the same household as the obligor, and the number of children not before the court for whom the obligor is obligated by a court order to pay support.  A child support attorney may skillfully present the information a court requires to determine net resources and the ability of a party to pay child support.