Florida Child Support Lawyers
How Florida Calculates Child Support
Florida uses an “income shares” model: the guidelines combine both parents’ net incomes, look up the support amount for that combined income and number of children, and split it between the parents in proportion to what each earns. See Fla. Stat. § 61.30.
The guideline amount is presumptively what the judge must order. The court can move it up or down by 5%; anything more requires a written explanation of why the guideline number would be unjust.
Three inputs decide almost everything:
Each parent’s net income. Wages, self-employment income, bonuses, commissions, and more — minus allowed deductions. This is where most fights happen, especially with business owners or irregular income.
Overnights. The time-sharing schedule feeds directly into the formula. Because Florida now presumes equal time-sharing, the overnight count matters more than ever.
Add-ons. Health insurance for the child and work-related child care are layered into the calculation.
When a Parent’s Income Isn’t What It Seems
Some parents suddenly earn less when support is on the table — a quit job, a paused business, cash income that disappears from the books. Florida judges have seen it all.
If unemployment or underemployment is voluntary, the court can impute income: calculate support based on what the parent could earn, using work history, qualifications, and prevailing wages. A parent whose income can’t be shown may even be presumed to earn the median full-time wage.
Proving real income takes documents: tax returns, bank statements, business records. That’s the same skill set we use in financial disclosure disputes and business-owner divorces, and it’s often the difference between a fair number and a fictional one.
Changing Child Support Later
Support isn’t frozen forever. When circumstances change substantially — income up or down, the time-sharing schedule changes, a child’s needs change — either parent can ask the court to recalculate.
The change must move the number by at least 15% or $50, whichever is greater.
Two things to know:
Modification isn’t retroactive to the day life changed. It generally reaches back only to the date the petition was filed. If you lost your job, file promptly — waiting builds a debt the court usually can’t erase.
Informal deals don’t change the order. A text agreeing to lower payments won’t protect you later. Get it entered by the court. Learn more on our modifications page.
When Support Isn’t Being Paid
Florida takes unpaid support seriously, and so do we. Most orders include an income deduction order, so payments come straight from the paycheck. See Fla. Stat. § 61.1301.
Beyond that, courts can hold a non-paying parent in contempt, enter judgments for the arrears, and suspend a driver’s license. See Fla. Stat. § 61.13016.
One rule protects everyone: support and time-sharing are separate. You can’t withhold the children over unpaid support, and you can’t withhold support over missed time-sharing — either move puts you on the wrong side of the court.
The right tool is enforcement, and it works. See our enforcement and contempt page.
Support in Divorce and Paternity Cases
Child support comes up in two settings: as one of the four issues in a divorce, and as a central issue for unmarried parents in a paternity case.
The formula is the same in both. For unmarried parents, support can’t be ordered until paternity is legally established — which is often the first step we handle.