The support payments essentially are supposed to work like a subsidy for the parent who is going to have much larger expenses related to their children due to increased time with them.
Brooklyn, NY – Although all children need financial support from their parents, there are limited circumstances where a parent will be ordered by a judge to make payments to the other biological parent. The most common situations where this happens are after a custody hearing tied to a divorce, or if there are paternity issues that need to be solved. Anyone who is about to go through a custody hearing or needs their payments modified should get legal help from a family law attorney as soon as possible.
After a paternity test
In some cases, paternity may be disputed if the child’s mother is unsure of the identity of the biological father. The paternity test can conclusively establish whether any given man is the father of the child or not. If paternity is established through testing, the father may now need to make support payments to the mother.
Custody time
Parents who have much less custody time will be expected to pay the other parent for expenses related to raising the child while they are not around. This usually happens following a custody hearing, where one parent is given primary custody and they will spend much more time with their child than the other. The support payments essentially are supposed to work like a subsidy for the parent who is going to have much larger expenses related to their children due to increased time with them.
Length of child support payments
Once an order of child support is in place, the parent will need to keep making payments until the child reaches 21 years old, or when the child reaches 18 years of age if there are certain conditions present such as emancipation, or the parents agreed to a longer duration through a divorce settlement or other agreement. The needs of the child through support payments will also include healthcare costs.
Modifying payment amounts
It is possible that a parent may have trouble making payments, or the other needs to receive more money due to increased expenses. In any of these situations, the payments need to be modified. However, there needs to be a formal hearing in court to determine if the modification will be approved by the judge.
Advice from a New York family lawyer
Elliot Green Law Offices is a firm in Brooklyn that helps clients who are about to get divorced, have a child custody hearing, need to make alimony payments, or deal with other family court issues. Attorneys are available to speak with anyone who needs more information about these processes.
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