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How can I get a child support estimate?

One of the most important aspects of the divorce process is determining the dollar amount of child support that you will either pay or receive. When approving child support payments, the court takes a number of factors into account. These factors include such things as each parent’s income, how much of the time each parent cares for the child, if the child has special needs, and the child’s health insurance costs.

The judge will take these and any other relevant factors and apply a predetermined formula to arrive at a final figure. But you don’t have to wait for a judge to do the math to get a good idea of how much money will be involved; you can use an online child support calculator.

While an online calculator will probably not give you the exact amount, it can provide a reasonable estimate. But to do this, you will have to input accurate numbers regarding the number of children involved, both you and your spouse’s income, and a variety of your children’s expenses.

Once the calculator has the information, it will yield a result that may prove to be a little low. This would be due to the child’s evolving needs or some expenses that were not properly accounted for.

So how can you get an even more accurate picture of your child support totals? Well, you can take the results gleaned from the calculator, along with documentation that demonstrates the amount it is costing to raise your child, to an experienced family law attorney. The attorney can go over all of your information and also discuss other costs and factors that pertain to your child’s expenses to help clarify the amount that should be paid or received.

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