Child Support

Texas Appellate Court Partially Reverses Trial Court’s Child Support Ruling

March 1, 2024 | by Robert Guest

The amount of child support a parent must pay can depend on a number of factors. A parent’s current income and assets are relevant to their child support obligations, but courts may also consider the child’s age and needs if they justify a departure from typical child support guidelines. A court also may order retroactive child support payments in addition to future payments. Recently, a Texas appeals court partially affirmed and partially reversed a trial court’s child support order for abuse of the court’s discretion.

Facts of the Case

According to the facts discussed in the recent opinion, this dispute arose between a Mother and Father who were not married at the time their child was born and had since ended their relationship. The Mother moved from Texas to Indiana with her infant daughter to be closer to family. The Father, who remained in Texas, filed a petition with the Harris County trial court seeking a declaration of his parentage. He further asked the court to declare Texas as the child’s home state.

While the suit was pending, the Moher and Father entered into a settlement agreeing that neither party would child support until the proceeding concluded. After a bench trial, which is a trial before a judge without a jury, the judge declared that the Father was the child’s father and appointed the Mother and Father as joint conservators. It also found that Indiana was the child’s current home state, but Texas was her home state in the six months before the suit. The trial court further ordered the Father to pay child support in the future, along with retroactive child support. The Father appealed. On appeal, the Father argued that the trial court erred in naming both Indiana and Texas as the child’s home state; calculating his monthly net resources and resulting monthly child support payment; and ordering him to pay retroactive child support notwithstanding the settlement agreement.

Understanding Modifications to Child Support Orders in Texas

August 15, 2023 | by Robert Guest

Navigating the complex world of family law, particularly when it comes to child support orders, can be overwhelming. However, at guest & Gray, our Dallas County divorce law firm is committed to providing clarity and guidance. In this post, we delve into the essential details of modifications to child support orders in Texas.

In Texas, child support is established to ensure the welfare of the child post-divorce. However, circumstances can change post-judgment, necessitating a review and possible modification of the original child support order. Understanding the grounds and processes for these modifications is crucial for both the custodial and non-custodial parent.

Under Texas law, a child support order may be modified if it’s been three years since the last order and the monthly amount of the child support award under the order differs by either 20 percent or $100 from the amount that would be awarded according to child support guidelines. Additionally, a modification may be justified if there has been a material and substantial change in the circumstances of the child or a person affected by the order. Such changes could include a significant increase or decrease in either parent’s income, changes in the child’s medical insurance, or substantial changes in the child’s living arrangements.

Divorced Father Seeks Reduction in Child Support, But Court Ultimately Orders an Increase Instead

May 10, 2023 | by Robert Guest

Texas courts consider various factors when determining how to award child support in cases of divorce or paternity. Generally, a child support award is based upon the needs of the custodial parent in caring for the children, as well as the ability of the noncustodial parent to pay for support. These determinations are usually made based on the needs and earning abilities of the parties at the time when the order is entered. Because circumstances change, the Texas code allows for a parent to seek a reduction or increase in child support based on a change of circumstances. A Texas man recently petitioned a Harris County Family Court to reduce his child support obligation based on a change in his employment situation, but the results were likely not what he expected or desired.

The Facts of the Case

The Petitioner in the recently decided case previously agreed to a divorce settlement with the Respondent, which included a child support obligation of $1893.00 per month to support the parties’ child. A final decree of divorce consistent with the agreement was then entered by the court in 2018. Since the decree of divorce was entered, the Petitioner had a change in his employment, as a contract job he had been working with was no longer available. As a result of his change in income, he filed a petition to modify the divorce decree. To modify a child support order, Texas law requires that the circumstances of the children or a person affected by the order have materially and substantially changed, and the support payments previously ordered should be decreased.

In response to his petition to modify his support obligation, the Respondent filed a counter-petition, arguing that the Petitioner’s income had actually increased and that her income was reduced, and that an increase in child support was justified. In evaluating the parties’ claims, the court noted that while the Petitioner did see a decrease in his overall employment income since the decree of divorce was entered, he had been receiving substantial other income that would need to be factored into his support obligation.

Texas Family Law Case Demonstrates Flexible Nature of Child Support Awards

December 31, 2021 | by Robert Guest

Figuring out child support can be an emotional and prolonged process, especially because an initial award may need to be adjusted. A recent case revisiting a child support order demonstrates some of the complications that can arise.

In the case, a Texas father challenged the amount of child support a court had ordered him to pay. He also challenged the court’s order that he pay increased child support retroactively.

Although the father was successful in his challenge to the retroactive support, the court upheld the monthly award amount, which the father will be required to pay moving forward.

Texas Appeals Court Dismisses Child Support Case Due to Mootness

November 18, 2021 | by Robert Guest

Although generally family court cases have a substantial and lasting effect on people’s lives, changes in circumstances may make some cases no longer relevant or actionable. In a recent case in a Texas child support case, a Texas appeals court found that the wife’s suit for child support modification had become moot.

In that case, the husband and wife shared two children. After their divorce, the wife filed a motion to modify child support and possession claiming that there were material and substantial changes affecting the child support. The court held a hearing and issued a decision in that case in 2018. The wife appealed that decision. While the appeal was pending, that wife filed a subsequent motion to modify the order and in 2020, the trial court signed a judgment in a separate proceeding. The wife did not appeal that decision. In the wife’s appeal, the husband argued that the appeal was moot because the wife had filed a new modification suit and the court entered a new child support order, which she had not appealed.

When Does a Case Become Moot?

Texas courts are required to consider intervening events that may affect a lawsuit and cause it to be moot. A case is moot if there is no “justiciable controversy between the parties.” If a controversy between the parties does not exist or ceases to exist, the parties do not have a legal interest in the outcome, or the court’s judgment does not have any practical legal effect, the case is moot.

What is intentional underemployment? Texas Child Support

January 30, 2021 | by Robert Guest

What is intentional underemployment?

Bob has a child with Mary. Bob makes $10,00,000 a year as a professional baseball player. Mary takes Bob to court for child support. Bob is in his baseball prime and could still play if he wanted. But Bob decides to retire from baseball and take up a job as a Tik Tok dancer that pays $10,000 a year.

Bob believes that Texas child support calculations are based on income. Bob is mad about having to pay child support and wants to reduce the amount he pays to Mary. Bob thinks he would pay much less in child support on $10,000 a year vs $10,000,000.

Divorce Documents Checklist For Texas Family Law Cases

December 24, 2020 | by Robert Guest

Texas Divorce Law is changing in 2021. Starting on 1/1/21 there will be new discovery rules that will apply to all family law cases, including child custody and divorce. What does this mean for people starting the process? It means it’s time to get organized. If you are going to meet with a Texas Family Lawyer in 2021 you must have certain documents and information ready from the start.

What’s changed?

Starting in January 1st, 2021 all parties to a divorce will be required to turn over certain documents within 30 days. So as soon as you are served with a divorce or child custody case you will have 30 days to respond, and as soon as you file a divorce case you will have 30 days to turn documents over to the other party.

If you have primary custody (custodial parent), you can still be ordered to pay child support

November 27, 2019 | by Robert Guest

Most people assume that if you are awarded primary custody, and you have a child living with you the majority of the time, then the other parent will pay you child support. The Dallas Court of Appeals recently heard a case in which Father was ordered to pay child support, even though Father had the child 70% of the time and was considered the custodial parent with primary custody.

How did this happen? Let’s look at In the Interest of ARW, No. 05-18-00201-CV from the Dallas Court of Appeals.

What happened in ARW?

You Are NOT the Father—BUT You May Still Owe Child Support

May 6, 2014 | by Guest and Gray Law Firm

Are you facing a divorce with your spouse and you are concerned that you are not the father of your child? You have probably always had that feeling (given your spouse’s cheating history) that you are not the child’s biological father but you just have never acted on that feeling. However, now that you are facing a divorce you feel that it is important to raise this as an issue and deny your paternity. Absent addressing all of the issues that can arise with a denial of paternity, you need to know what can happen in the interim while the case is pending. You may not be the biological father, but you still may be the presumed father.

What is a presumed father?

You are the presumed father for all legal purposes if one of the following is true: you are married to the mother and the child was born during the marriage; you married the mother before the birth of the child even if the marriage could be invalid; you married the mother before the birth of the child and your name is on the birth certificate. This means, even if you are not the biological father of the child you are the father in the eyes of the law. Therefore, the judge can make orders according to that legal fact and most likely will do so.

Post-Majority Expenses/Support—You May Have an Order, But Is It Enforceable?

February 25, 2014 | by Guest and Gray Law Firm

You have a pending case involving a child (divorce, SAPCR, modification) and child support has been established. However, like most parents you are concerned about the future—what happens when the children go to college, how will I afford their expenses then? Most people say that you can “save the child support” but that is not ideal. Children are expensive and it is highly likely that you will spend all of the child support and then some with all of the things that come up throughout their lives until they turn 18 or graduate from high school. Child support ends on “removal of the child’s disabilities for general purposes, the marriage or death of a child, or a finding by the court that the child is 18 years of age or older and is no longer enrolled in high school or a high-school equivalent program.” In the Interest of W.R.B. and B.K.B., Children. So, what are your options to ensure that your children can get a college education and have support from the other parent?

This issue is addressed in In the Interest of W.R.B. and B.K.B., Children from the 5^th District Court of Appeals in Dallas. There, the Dallas Court of Appeals addressed the issue of post-majority support which is defined as applying “only to a non-disabled child who is 18 years of age or older and is no longer enrolled in high school or a high-school equivalent program” Tex. Fam. Code Section 154.001(a). Therefore, this creates or allows for a specific scenario in which the other parent would still be required to make support payments. In this case, the Court held that the trial court cannot order post-majority support on its own volition but the parties can agree to post-majority support in writing. In the agreed modification orders, the parties had done just that. Therefore, the Court of Appeals held that it was proper for the trial court to render the order of post-majority support. However, the issue then became that the obligor parent stopped paying the post-majority expenses and so the recipient or obligee parent filed an enforcement action seeking reimbursement of all of the expenses, attorneys’ fees and interest.

The Dallas Court of Appeals held that for post-majority support, this is after the child ages out and was based purely upon the parties’ agreement and so therefore it is not enforceable in a family law court under the Texas Family Code. Rather, the proper avenue is breach of contract. This is because the agreed orders, with respect to the post-majority support, are considered a contract because it is an agreement of the parties not based upon legal authority. This is unlike the issue of child support that was ordered which remains enforceable even post-aging out of the children because the Court still maintains jurisdiction over that issue as it was awarded under the family code.