Dallas Child Support Lawyer
Child Support Attorney in Dallas, TX
If you are a parent in the Dallas area and facing the challenges of a child support issue, you need a skilled Dallas child support lawyer who understands the local family court system. Whether your case is taking place at the George Allen Sr. Courts Building downtown or the North Dallas Government Center on Marsh Lane, it can be difficult to manage. It is wise to only proceed with sound and experienced legal assistance.
For over a decade, the team at Cruz Arevalo has been helping clients through a wide range of family law issues. Our firm operates as a boutique law firm, focusing on the area of family law. This means our time and attention can be focused on you and your case. At Cruz Arevalo, we can work to achieve the favorable outcome you deserve.
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Calculating Child Support in Dallas
Though Texas has a lower rate of divorce than many states in the country, these cases still occur. At 1.9 divorces per 1,000 residents, child support situations naturally arise. Child support cases in Dallas can be difficult. Cruz Arevalo understands that you only want what is in the best interests of your children. Texas law prioritizes these interests and holds to the idea that both parents share the legal obligation of financially supporting their children.
Child support typically covers expenses related to the child’s needs. These can include food, clothing, education, housing, and medical care. In most situations, the parent awarded a lesser amount of custody will be the paying parent; they will make child support payments to the parent with more custodial time. However, every case is different, which is why it is so important to seek the legal assistance of an attorney.
When determining child support amounts, if you and your co-parent cannot create an arrangement on your own, you will need to go before a judge, who will decide one for you. The judge will take several different factors into account when determining the amount of child support in the case. These include the child’s exact needs and age, along with the financial resources of both parents.
When calculating how much the paying parent will be responsible for providing, the courts will look at other factors involved in the lives of both the parents and the children. These can include:
- The number of minor children in need of support
- How many hours per week the parent works, along with their hourly wage rate, salary amount, or salary pay period
- Whether the parent providing the support is self-employed
- What the monthly premiums are for any health insurance provided for the children
In many situations, the average monthly payment of child support totals somewhere around $441. Child support is vitally important, as single parents are more likely to live in poverty compared to households with married parents. When a child grows up in poverty, they tend to face physical, mental, and behavioral issues, along with demonstrating negative performance in school and employment challenges in adulthood.
Providing a child with this necessary support can be a critical source of income. It can pay for the child’s basic needs while also pursuing stability in their overall life.
How Long Will Child Support Last?
In Texas, obligations to pay child support will typically last until the child turns 18 or graduates from high school, whichever happens later. However, there are certain situations in which child support obligations can either be extended or terminated. These can include:
- A legal agreement. Parents can legally agree on terms for either terminating or extending standing child support agreements beyond the usual age of 18. Nearly half of all custodial parents have some kind of legal or informal child support agreement in place. Also, certain extensions or terms of ending support obligations can be written in these agreements.
- Emancipation. lf a child becomes emancipated before their 18th birthday, child support obligations may come to an end. Emancipation usually occurs when the child can become self-supporting, joins the military, or gets married.
- Disability. If the child suffers from a severe disability that prevents them from becoming self-supporting once they reach 18, child support payments may be required to continue for a certain amount of time.
Modifying Dallas Child Support
In certain cases, either the paying parent or the parent receiving the support may wish to modify standing court orders. To do so, however, they must prove that they have experienced a life-altering event. This event must have changed their circumstances enough to warrant a legal modification. Such changes can include:
- The loss of employment for either parent
- An increase in income for either parent
- If either parent or the child suffers a new medical issue or disability
- If either parent believes their co-parent did not fully disclose their finances in the original case
At Cruz Arevalo, our attorneys can represent you through a modification case. Whether you are the parent looking to pay less support than originally ordered or the one hoping to receive a higher sum of support, we can pursue an order modification to meet your needs accordingly.
Why You Need to Hire a Child Support Lawyer From Cruz Arevalo
One of the concerns we hear often voiced by clients is that they are concerned about their ability to continue to pay bills and provide for their children. Thankfully, Texas issues a set of guidelines for computing support quickly and effortlessly. These guidelines get updated periodically. Most people do not know about these updates. It is always beneficial to have full access to a child support attorney in Texas that can help you understand the guidelines.
Despite being presumptive and in the absence of contrary argument, state guidelines will still be applied by the court. The flexibility of the law makes it possible for the court to consider individual circumstances when establishing the amount of support payments. Therefore, by getting expert legal counsel, you’ll set yourself on the path of an advantage when resolving the amount of child support.
Divorce typically upsets a major alteration in the structure of the family. Our role as a reputable Texas child support law firm is to ensure that your children do not suffer through the process of a divorce.
Issues such as setting support, modifying child support, and enforcing child support are all part of what we handle. These cases are serious, and you need to hire a child support lawyer as soon as possible. Cruz Arevalo can review your case and pursue an arrangement that ideally fits your family, all while being fair to all concerned.
Consult a Trusted Dallas Child Support Attorney Today
Making sure your child is financially supported throughout their upbringing is critical to their physical, mental, and emotional health. Navigating the child support laws of Texas, however, can be challenging, and you should not try to do so on your own. At Cruz Arevalo, we can secure you a fair and just arrangement for child support, whether you are the receiving or paying parent.
Whatever your situation, contact our offices today for an initial consultation with our team, and see why so many people choose to work with Cruz Arevalo.
