When it comes to the financial support parents provide for their children, every dollar counts, whether you are making support payments or receiving them. While most parents would generally do whatever they can to protect and provide for their children, there is often only so much they can do financially. This means that determining child support amounts must be done fairly and consistently.
Tennessee courts take very seriously the calculation of child support payments, and there are guidelines in place that must be observed when figuring out how much a parent will need to pay every month. This means it will not be done arbitrarily or as a way of penalizing a parent. In order to arrive at a court-ordered amount, judges will consider many factors.
Some of these factors include:
- The individual incomes of both parents
- Other assets and liabilities that affect a parent's regular earnings
- The medical, social and educational needs of the child
- Non-monetary contributions of the paying parent
- Childcare expenses
- Government benefits paid to either parent
- Child support paid or received for other children
- Balance of parenting time
Based on these and other pieces of information, the courts can calculate the amount to be paid in child support.
While there is this established calculation process in place, every situation is unique. There can be deviations that result in adjusted payments and special circumstances that can require changes to the guidelines.
In order to ensure you have a fair child support order that reflects all the necessary information specific to your case, it can be essential that you work with an experienced family law attorney familiar with this process and the child support system in Tennessee.