Q: How is child support calculated in TX? Is it based on income or custody?
I am considering filing in the next year, and I want to be financially prepared. I am expecting my spouse to want 50/50 custody, or close to it. I want to know how this will affect child support. I make 75% of what my spouse makes. Would my spouse have to pay me child support based on the higher income, even if custody turns out to be 50/50?
A:
Custody of children should be determined based upon what is best for the children. Far too often, we see people now who are only seeking custody in an effort to pay less child support. I hope that that is not the case with your spouse, and that if he is asking for 50/50 custody it is because he genuinely feels like the 40% of the time that a Texas Standard Possession order would give him would not be enough.
There is no hard and fast rule to set child support in a 50/50 case. I have seen many times where child support is completely unaffected, and the parent who earns more pays the same amount of child support as they would if they had received a Standard Possession order. Usually, if the agreement is for no child support, it is because the parent who earns less made an agreement before they saw an attorney. If both sides have an attorney, about half the time child support is unaffected by the custody split, and the other half of the time, it is reduced.
If you do not feel that a 50/50 custody split is best for your child, don't agree to it. Your spouse is unlikely to get it without your cooperation.
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