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Although the video above explains both paths, offering child support advice is a complicated matter completely dependent upon each family’s situation. What is best for your child? How do you feel about the other parent? How much of your life are you willing to open up—either by becoming a bigger part of your child’s life or (if you are the primary caretaker of the child) by letting the other parent into your life?
As Orlando family law attorneys, we help clients who are wrestling with these kinds of decisions on a daily basis, and we can tell you that there’s no right or wrong answer except what works for you. By using qualified legal child support advice when you meet with our attorneys, you can then make decisions based on your own circumstances.
Speak with an experienced Florida attorney at our firm today.
Call 855-Kramer-Now (855-572-6376).
Child Support Advice on Filing a Paternity Claim in Court
As mentioned in the video, filing a paternity claim allows you to establish a parenting plan which includes child support orders. This may be the path to choose if you want to be more involved in your child’s life or you believe that having the other parent around is the right thing to do for your child.
For unmarried fathers without much involvement who want more, filing a paternity action is the legal path that will protect the father’s rights. With a parenting plan in place, you have a say in how your child is raised. You may get more visitation time or be granted more involvement in their education and health. It is also possible that the parenting plan you come up with could increase or decrease the amount of child support you are paying.
What do primary caretakers get out of a paternity action? A partner in raising their child. Whether this partner is involved 10% or 50% is another question, but it should help to ease some of the burden and give their child a structured way to grow up with the other parent.
Child Support Advice in Seeking Child Support Enforcement through the Florida Department of Revenue
The Florida Department of Revenue (DOR) is authorized to render a final order of paternity and child support. This generally is available to a mother who is receiving public assistance such as food stamps or subsidized child care. Yet the Department of Revenue is limited in their authority, and cannot establish a parenting plan.
Paternity and child support established in this way can wind up with various outcomes, which makes child support advice even more complex. If the biological father spends a great deal of time taking care of the child, the DOR does not take this into account when establishing child support, whereas a parenting plan through the court process would. The differences in resulting amounts of child support to be paid by the father can be significant.
In some situations, this may be the better choice for the mother who is not interested in having the biological father be a structured part of the child’s life, but still needs financial help. Additionally, the biological father is still able to pursue action to establish a parenting plan through the Circuit Court in an effort to seek parenting rights.
As an Orlando family law and divorce attorney, the only way to offer you child support advice is to meet with you in person and go over your specific situation today.
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