Do The Courts Strictly Follow The Child Support Guidelines In A Florida Child Support Case?

As you may know, Florida created child support guidelines to make sure that all parents followed the same rules when it came to calculating the amount of child support to be paid in a Florida divorce or paternity.  The guidelines are very exact and there are even computer programs available to calculate the amount based on the income and expenses of the parents.

There are times, however, when the Florida family law judge will deviate from the child support guidelines.  The best Tampa family law attorney will tell you that those times are rare and generally involve some specific circumstances.  These circumstances include extraordinary healthcare expenses, independent income of the child, support needed for a parent of one of the parties, special needs of the child, the impact of the dependency income tax exemption or the shared parenting arrangement.

Bottom line:  Consult your expert Tampa child support lawyer to see if any of the exceptions to the Florida child support guideline statute apply to you.