CHILD SUPPORT LAWS 2
Child Support Laws
In Florida, there are specific statutes that are in support of the minors that oblige the parents to pay a certain amount of money. The payment is made by every parent who has a child, who is defined as a minor and the money raised is used to cater for the basic needs of a child which include food, shelter, electricity and clean water (Brito, 2012). The support can also be used for covering the medical insurance of the child. The importance the child support is to ensure that the costs of raising the children are shared by both parents mostly in cases where there is divorce (Nepomnyaschy & Garfinkel, 2010).
The law has it that the funds raised in support of the children are not taxable by the government. The child support laws are enforceable by the courts of law within Florida, and the Florida chart of statutes acts to guide these laws. The child support does not necessarily go to a specific child within a family, but it is used to cater for the expenses of a household with kids generally. The amount payable by the spouse is determined by the income of the parent which constitutes of basic salary, overtime payments, own business earnings, bonuses etc. the amount payable is deduced from the parent’s total income minus all the deductions which give a net income of the parent from which the support is calculated and determined. For the underemployed and parent who is not employed, the court may be forced to assign an income for that parent per month.
The amount payable may vary if the child has special needs which raise the amount payable by the parent and these needs include psychological support services for the child, impairment by the child, dental care services for the child etc. The parents may continue paying the support even after the child is no longer a minor and cases under which the parent may continue paying include if the child has not yet graduated from high school or has disabilities.
References
Brito, T. L. (2012). Fathers Behind Bars: Rethinking Child Support Policy Toward Low-Income Noncustodial Fathers and Their Families. J. Gender Race & Just., 15, 617.
Nepomnyaschy, L., & Garfinkel, I. (2010). Child support enforcement and fathers’ contributions to their nonmarital children. Social Service Review, 84(3), 341-380.