People often ask themselves, “what can a child support lawyer do for me?” If you’re currently going through a divorce and thinking about visitation, child support payments, paperwork, and your legal rights, it’s important that you talk to a child support lawyer. Your Kennewick family lawyer can help you with everything relating to child support, custody, and paperwork.
Table of Contents
- 1 Benefits of Hiring a Child Support Lawyer
- 2 Can I Get A Court Appointed Attorney For Child Support?
- 3 Do I Need an Attorney for Child Support Hearing?
- 4 Get The Legal Help You Deserve
- 5 How Is Child Support Determined?
- 6 Can I File for Child Support Without a Lawyer?
- 7 What Is Child Support?
- 8 Who Is Responsible for Child Support?
Benefits of Hiring a Child Support Lawyer
A child support lawyer can organize child support payments, clarify and determine the terms of child support orders, while also enforcing custody agreements and visitation periods. They enter negotiations for their clients and support during court as well.
Explain the Child Support Process
A child support lawyer will start off by explaining to you how the entire process goes from beginning to end. When you first contact this lawyer, they will tell you the initial steps you need to follow, which involves paperwork and answering any of your questions.
The goal is to make life easier for you. They’ll explain the rights of each parent regarding your unique situations and see if you qualify for any child support modifications.
These attorneys also assess the child support case, look at the documents, clarify the terms, and calculate potential payments.
If you’re a divorcing parent, you’ll want to call your Kennewick Family Lawyer to help you with this process. The longer you wait, the more time you’re going without the support and financial assistant you need to take care of your children. Child custody lawyers can even help you get back child support that you should have received over time.
Help with Child Support Implementation
Every state has different requirements for setting up and implementing child support orders. If one exists currently, you can speak with the local governing authority. If you don’t have a child support order already in place, you’ll want to talk to a child support attorney because they will help you set it up and implement it.
The implementation process is everything that follows once everyone agrees on the terms, and paperwork begins. The reality is, not every divorcing couple will come to an agreement, which leads to court hearings to determine custody as well as monthly payments.
You have the right to get the money you feel is necessary to take care of your kids as well as the proper custody agreement.
Once both parties come to a common ground, this is when the attorney can enforce the custody and child support agreements.
Help Negotiate Child Support Payments
If both parties cannot reach an agreement, this is where litigation may occur, and the attorney will assist you with serving your ex-partner with a child support order requiring them to pay that amount of appeal in court. If they choose to appeal the support, then they’ll need to present themselves with their own lawyer to argue the judgment.
Negotiating these terms on your own is difficult, and if you don’t get along well with your ex, it’s impossible to come to an agreement. This is another reason why it’s so important to have a child support attorney. Your Kennewick lawyer can help you with creating, negotiating, and enforcing these child support payments.
Protect Your Legal Rights
It’s important to understand that both parents have legal rights, and there are no two situations that are exactly the same. Both the mother and father have the right to proper visitation and financial support, so if you feel like your rights are being stripped away from you, you deserve the right to hire a lawyer and settle it once and for all.
A child support lawyer will ensure that they protect the rights of both parents, and each person gets a fair and equal share of the situation. No parent should feel like they’re losing their child or overpaying in child support to the point where it becomes a strain on their ability to stay above water.
Helps with the Complicated Cases and Modification Cases
Divorce cases are inherently complicated, even when you believe an amicable issue might be resolved easily. Whenever a case involves children, a divorce case becomes very complicated because of child support.
With the help of an experienced attorney, you can resolve complex issues beforehand because of their previous experience. A good divorce lawyer has solved these complex cases before and will be well-versed in your scenario regardless of its complexity. They can also help with adoption cases
With any case involving child support, it is advised to have a lawyer. Even if you believe you don’t need them for your initial hearing, there can be issues that crop up that need the specific attention of an experienced attorney. Regardless of how you appraise your relationship with your ex-partner, things can change, and you might need to modify your payment plan or child support details.
Modification cases can become complex simply because they involve money. This can be true for both the custodial and non-custodial parent—in the case of the latter, you might have lost your job, come into some medical expenses, or be facing significant debt. The courts will consider your previously agreed-upon plan if you are unable to pay the amount. If the child is in your custody and the non-custodial parent is suddenly earning significantly more, you may want to modify the child support plan based on legitimate grounds.
The courts will reconsider a parenting plan or child support payment if it is in the best needs of the child.
Not all modifications are guaranteed regardless of your situation, which is why you need an experienced lawyer on your side. Consulting with a good family law attorney can help you better present your case before the judge, and they may be able to argue better on your behalf. The child support lawyers in Kennewick have years of experience navigating the complexities of divorce law.</span/p>
Can I Get A Court Appointed Attorney For Child Support?
Yes. If a single parent can’t afford to pay for an attorney, they might be qualified for a court appointed one. An attorney appointed by the court will represent and serve the single parent the same as a paid one. Many family court systems maintain a thorough network of pro bono attorneys that can assist in child custody cases.
Do I Need an Attorney for Child Support Hearing?
While you can represent yourself, having a Washington State Bar certified family attorney at your child support hearing to represent you will greatly assist your circumstances. While there is no right to a free attorney at child support hearings, there are some organizations that might provide help.
How Is Child Support Determined?
Many parents feel that the child support system is unfair or that it favors one person over the other, but there is a calculated system used to determine the amount a parent must pay. It starts with the gross income of the two individuals. This includes wages, investments, bonuses, and employee benefits.
They also consider healthcare costs. If one parent has to carry insurance for three children, then the other person is responsible for financially assisting with that cost. Non-custodial parents who spend a significant amount of parenting time with the child receive a child support credit, and figuring out how much that should be is a challenge. This is once again where a child support lawyer comes into play.
Many of these issues and guidelines will require an attorney to stray from the rules to make something work properly for both parties. There is never a perfect right or wrong way to determine child support and custody agreements. Instead, all parties must work together to figure out what works best for kids and adults.
Without the help of a mediator, this could be impossible, so you should keep that in mind as you’re going through this situation.
Can I File for Child Support Without a Lawyer?
You don’t need a lawyer to enforce or modify child support, in most cases. You can submit a modification for child support through the appropriate courts, and while filing a motion or petition can be done on your own it’s best to consult with your lawyer.
What Is Child Support?
Child support is defined as an ongoing and periodic payment made by the non-custodial parent for the financial benefit of supporting a child at the dissolution of a marriage. Child support exists to help support a child or children even after the parents have split up, enabling them to continue living their lives as intended.
It is necessary for all parents to support their children until they turn 19 and are no longer dependent, but child support is more than how it sounds. Child support exists to help provide a child with the same lifestyle they would have enjoyed had their parents not split up or separated. Child support allows children to continue living relatively normal lives, with the financial support that enables a proper education, living environment, health insurance, extracurricular activities, and more. Child support is not explicitly defined by covering the basic necessities of a child—the considerations behind child support cover all of their well-being.
The amount calculated for child support is based on a technical process that identifies the percentage of the combined salary of both parents. This is used in the upbringing of the child, but can become complicated over time as jobs, needs, and locations change.
Who Is Responsible for Child Support?
Both parents are technically required to contribute to child support. Typically, the non-custodial parent (the one who does not have physical custody) will pay the child support. Child support is calculated based on specific state guidelines, with factors such as financial status, financial needs, and more. Child support exists as a resource to help a child continue living the life they would have had if their parents had not divorced.
Conclusion
As you can see, a child support lawyer does a lot within this process. They not only act as the first point of contact, but they consistently act as a mediator, organizer, and enforcer of both child support and custody agreements.
If you’re a divorced parent or planning on getting a divorce and you worry about what will happen with your kids, you’ll want to speak with someone at Skyview Law.
We can not only handle everything to do with your child custody concerns, but we’ll also make sure to protect your rights so no one ever takes advantage of you and so you get the financial and emotional support you deserve.
