HOW MUCH CHILD SUPPORT DO I NEED TO PAY?

HOW MUCH CHILD SUPPORT DO I NEED TO PAY?

The Texas family courts will generally require that the parent who is not in the primary physical custody of the child to pay child support to the parent who is in primary physical custody. The court will look at the non-custodial parent’s net resources and apply a set percentage for each child.

The percentage to be applied is generally as follows:

• 20% for 1 child,

• 25% for 2 children,

• 30% for 3 children,

• 35% for 4 children,

• 40% for 5 or more children.

As noted above, the court will determine the amount of child support to be paid based on the net resources of the paying parent.

Net resources generally include:

• Salary,

• Commissions,

• Overtime,

• Tips,

• Bonuses,

• Dividend income,

• Self-employment income.

The court will determine net resources by taking the total amount of money the parent receives from all sources and deduct certain deductions such as social security taxes, federal taxes using only one deduction, state income tax, union dues, and the cost of the child’s health insurance. When calculating the child support obligation, the net resources are capped at $9,200.00 per month. The court will order health insurance to be provided for the child. The parent paying child support is generally the parent ordered to provide health insurance. Both parents are usually ordered to share payment of medical expenses which are not paid by the insurance company.