Child support has three different components. You need to know about each component so you are not surprised when the judge makes a child support order.
The first component is the child support amount itself. That is determined by placing information into a DissoMaster or Child Support Calculator and a number then being generated.
The second has to do with health insurance and unreimbursed medical expenses. The Family Code requires both parties to have health insurance for the children if it is available at a reasonable cost. For many couples this does not make sense as many plans do not work together. Spending extra money to have two plans is a waste of money. I try to have parents compare plans and choose the best plan with the best cost and agree the parent with the best plan provide the health insurance for the children. The default is the law if the parent carrying the insurance loses it for some reason. With the cost of plans these days it makes sense to maximize the money available.
The unreimbursed medical expenses fall under health care. Generally each party is ordered to pay one-half of unreimbursed medical costs not covered by insurance. This can include medical, dental, vision, mental health etc. Essentially any expense that would be categorized as a health related expense is covered.
The third component is child care. In most instances the parties are ordered to each pay one-half of work and/or educationally related child care.
No comments:
Post a Comment