Maine Child Support Attorneys

When two parents divorce or decide not to live together, they are both responsible for continuing the financial support of their child. Parents who cannot reach an agreement about their child’s financial support must seek a child support order from the court. The amounts awarded can vary greatly, so you want to make sure that your child support order is fair and reasonable, whether you are paying or receiving. 

Knowledgeable Litigators Defending Your Interests In Child Support Cases

As a Certified Financial Litigator, attorney Steve Smith knows how to handle complex income analysis for support purposes and other financial matters in your case. While other attorneys may simply default to the state guidelines for support, Steve and his team never settle for the easy answer. We understand how to analyze your unique financial circumstances and seek a fair child support award. Always seek help from a Maine child support lawyer from STEVE SMITH Trial Lawyers for your child support matter. 

How Child Support is Determined

Child Support is determined by statute and is calculated based on the number of children shared by the parents, the ages of the children, and the gross income earned by the parents.  Your Family Law Trial Lawyer will help you complete a Child Support Affidavit at the outset of your family law matter, which will be utilized for this calculation.

The Court will complete a Child Support Worksheet to calculate Weekly or Bi-Weekly Child Support.  Considerations when determining the amount of Child Support include whether there is a Primary Care Provider, where the children live with one parent most of the time, or whether the parents provide substantially equal care for the children.  

The parent who provides financially for certain child-related expenses will receive credit for these expenses; this will also impact the total Child Support amount due from one parent to the other.  These expenses include:

• the health care insurance for the children;
• child care expenses for the children; and/or
• extraordinary medical expenses for the children.

Your Family Law Trial Lawyer may also request that the Court determine the percentage of uninsured medical expenses that each parent will be responsible for in the event the children receive medical care that is not covered by insurance.

Although Child Support is largely a mathematically-driven process based on the numerical table provided by statute, there is room to argue for adjustments to the presumptive values.  A Family Law Trial Lawyer will be able to advise you on whether you should request a deviation from the standard Child Support calculation.  Some circumstances which may suggest a deviation from the standard Child Support calculation is necessary to include the following:

• whether a parent financially supports another child that lives in the home that is not subject to the pending family matter;
• whether the children currently receive dependent benefits as a result of the obligor’s disability; 
• whether the child has graduated from high school after reaching the age of 18; and 
• other circumstances specific to the parent’s financial situation.

In these situations, your Family Law Trial Lawyer will provide the Court with arguments regarding why not deviating from the presumptive amount of Child Support required by the Child Support Guidelines would be inequitable or unjust.

Lastly, your Family Law Trial Lawyer will help you determine whether an Income Withholding Order is necessary to facilitate payments of Child Support.