Clients often ask who determines the amount of child support to be paid. In Florida, child support is calculated pursuant Florida Child Support Guidelines. Child support is based on the combined net income of the parents.
Other relevant factors to be considered are: number of overnights the child(ren) spend with each parent, cost of daycare/aftercare, health insurance premiums paid on behalf of the child(ren), cost of parents’ health insurance, etc.
Clients also want to know if they can agree to pay more child support, and the answer is yes. But parents do not have the right to waive child support, because it belongs to the child(ren), not to the parents.
