New Law Affecting Child Support

Posted By Chris Givens on Jul 26, 2010 7:18am PDT

Portions of Chapter 61 of the Florida Statutes has been modified by a new law recently signed by Governor Charlie Crist. One of the smallest modifications to the actual Florida family law will have one of the largest effects on Florida divorce.

Chapter 61.30 has reduced the amount of timesharing that a parent must have with his or her minor child or children to utilize the Substantial Timesharing Child Support Guidelines Worksheet instead of the Standard Child Support Guidelines Worksheet. Prior to the new law, parties in Florida custody cases could only use the Substantial Timesharing worksheet if each parent had at least 40% of the overnight timesharing with the minor child or children. The new law reduces the threshold from 40% to 20%.

This drop from the required amount of overnights is important because the amount of child support paid from one party to another is considerably less under the Substantial Timesharing Child Support Guidelines Worksheet. Additionally, in the majority of family law cases involving minor children both parents have at least 20% of the overnights with their children.

Contact an expert Tampa family law attorney to see if this new change in the child support statute affects your family.