Westport Child Support Lawyer

Child support often becomes one of the most significant financial issues in a divorce, and working with a Westport child support lawyer early in the process can protect your financial stability. Both the parent who pays support and the parent who receives support feel the long-term impact of the obligation. The amount you pay or receive directly affects your finances for years after your divorce.

Because of these lasting consequences, it is important to work with an attorney who provides clear guidance and assertive advocacy. Based in Westport and serving families throughout Fairfield County and Connecticut, Broder Orland Murray & DeMattie LLC helps clients understand how Connecticut child support laws apply to their individual circumstances.

What Child Support Covers in Connecticut

Child support exists to cover a child’s basic daily needs, including housing, food, and clothing. It does not cover extracurricular activities, unreimbursed medical expenses, or summer camps.

How Courts Calculate Child Support

When determining the amount of child support one parent must pay the other, the court applies the Connecticut Child Support Guidelines. These guidelines rely on a mathematical formula based primarily on each party’s income and the number of children involved. A Westport child support lawyer can calculate this amount for you. The formula produces a presumptive weekly payment obligation.

When Child Support May Change

Child support orders may change when circumstances change. An increase or decrease in income or a change in custody or parenting time may alter the support amount. Shared physical custody alone does not eliminate a parent’s support obligation. Under the Connecticut Child Support Guidelines, the parent with the higher net weekly income presumptively pays the same support amount to the parent with the lower net weekly income, even in a shared custody arrangement.

Child Support in High Net Worth/High Income Divorce Cases

The Connecticut Child Support Guidelines cover the parents’ combined net weekly income between $0 – $4,000. If a family’s combined net weekly income exceeds $4,000, the court determines child support on a case-by-case basis after weighing multiple factors, including each parent’s income and the child’s needs. In these high-income cases, the court orders support between the presumptive minimum (the amount calculated as if combined income totaled $4,000) and the presumptive maximum (the guideline percentage for $4,000 multiplied by the family’s actual combined net weekly income).

For example, in a high net income case involving three children, where only the non-custodial parent is employed outside the home:

The minimum presumptive support amount is approximately $3,570.67 per month.
The maximum presumptive support will be determined by multiplying the employed parent’s net weekly income by 20.61%.
These presumptive amounts may be rebutted based on deviation criteria as discussed below, and an experienced Westport child support lawyer will know which deviation criteria to apply.

Deviations to Child Support

In certain situations, it may be necessary to deviate from the presumptive amount of child support per the Child Support Guidelines formula. The following are examples of permissible deviation criteria:

The court may also consider other financial resources available to a parent, including: (a) substantial assets, whether income-producing or non-income-producing; (b) the parent’s earning capacity; (c) parental support that a minor obligor receives; (d) regularly recurring contributions or gifts from a spouse or domestic partner, but only when the court finds that the parent reduced income or experienced an extraordinary reduction in living expenses as a direct result of those contributions or gifts; and (e) hourly wages from regular, overtime, and additional employment exceeding 45 paid hours per week, not to exceed 52 total paid hours per week.
Extraordinary expenses for the care and maintenance of the child.
Extraordinary parental expenses.
Needs of a parent’s other dependents.
Coordination of total family support.

How to File for Child Support in Connecticut?

In Connecticut, parents must support their child(ren) until the later of graduating from high school or turning eighteen (18). A parent asserts child support as a claim for relief in the complaint that initiates a divorce or child custody action.

What is Child Support Supposed to be used for?

Child support contributes to the basic household expenses of raising a child, including food, clothing, and the child’s share of shelter costs. Connecticut does not include additional expenses, such as medical care, childcare, and extracurricular activities, in the child support calculation.

How is Child Support Calculated?

In Connecticut, the court applies a formula to the parents’ combined net weekly income to determine the baseline amount of minimal support owed. The Connecticut Child Support Guidelines applies a sliding scale of percentages according to net income level and number of eligible children.

Is Child Support Considered Income?

Child Support is not taxable as income as defined by the Internal Revenue Service. This means that if you receive Child Support, you do not include it in the amount of taxable income on your tax return, and if you pay Child Support, you do not deduct the payment from your taxable income.

What to Do When a Parent Does Not Pay Child Support?

File a Motion for Contempt during the pendency of a divorce or custody action or after judgment. Keep detailed records of all payments received, because the motion must list each date of nonpayment and the exact amount of support owed. You must also follow specific procedural rules to allow the court to hear the matter and issue enforcement orders. The moving party must properly serve the child support obligor and file proof of service with the court, because Connecticut treats contempt proceedings as quasi-criminal matters.

What are the Consequences of Not Paying Child Support?

If you do not pay court-ordered child support, the court may initiate contempt proceedings against you, hold you in contempt of its orders, and impose liability for the full arrearage, the other party’s legal fees, and, in extreme cases, incarceration.

Whether your situation is relatively straightforward or exceedingly complex, our Westport child support lawyers will devise and implement a strategy that will offer the best chance of accomplishing your goals and protecting your rights.

Talk to a Westport Child Support Lawyer Today

Whether you need to establish, modify, or enforce a child support order, an experienced Westport child support lawyer can provide the guidance you need. Our attorneys understand how Connecticut calculates child support and will work to protect your financial interests while prioritizing your child’s well-being.

Ready to discuss your options? Contact Broder Orland Murray & DeMattie LLC today to schedule a consultation. We will answer your questions and help you take the right steps toward a fair and reasonable child support arrangement.