Child Support / Maintenance

North Dallas Lawyer Working in Child Support and Alimony

The Law Office of Jimmy Ira Carter can help you with any child support and spousal maintenance issues in the Dallas / Fort Worth Metroplex. We take on all kinds of cases, including attorney general cases, and give every client the exclusive attention of experienced lawyer. Contact us any time with your questions.

Our work can be divided into the two basic categories of original and secondary proceedings:

Original Proceedings

During any divorce, it is customary to make arrangements for temporary spousal and child support. The divorce court has great discretion to customize plans for support if it can be worked out between the parties and discretion to deviate where necessary. They have guidelines for determining child support and setting maintenance where applicable. Post judgment it is difficult to appeal support orders that conform to the statutory guidelines of the legislature without a showing of abuse of discretion.

If guideline support is contested, your lawyer must to put forth evidence that you deserve a plan that deviates from guidelines. For example, a lawyer could argue that a parent and child's standard of living and emotional well-being would be hurt if guidelines were applied without considering "additional factors" which would result in a too-small amount.

In cases of 50-50 custody arrangements, many courts award child support based on the difference between the incomes of both parents. For example, if one makes $80,000 and the other $50,000, then the court may order child support paid by the person with more income based on the $30,000 differential.

Secondary Proceedings

Quite simply, secondary proceedings are anything involving child support that happens after the original plan has been signed. The two basic categories are:

• Enforcement, a.k.a. "contempt" or "collection": People who continually failed to pay child support can be put in jail. A punishment can also involve posting a bond and putting the person on probation. Often, however, alimony and child support are kept as civil matters, outside the realm of criminal law.
• Modifications : After a divorce has been completed and settled, it is often necessary to make modifications to the agreement. Many people try to modify alimony or child support arrangements on their own, without involving lawyers or the judicial system. Later they discover that such informal agreements cannot be enforced. Instead, you can easily do a simple and inexpensive agreed modification signed by the court that will formalize your agreement and avoid hard feelings later. For child support, this is known in legal parlance as "Suits Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship (SAPCR)."

Paying Child Support

In a standard order, child support is paid through a state-mandated child support agency. Many people want to pay child support more directly, by check or withdrawals taken out of their bank account in allotments. Jimmy can help you tailor a plan that will allow you to pay the way you want to.

Contact Us

Please contact us any time to learn more about how our attorney can help you. Call us at (972) 385-3952 and you will either get through immediately or we will get back to you within 24 hours. We take all major credit cards, and can make evening and weekend consultations by appointment.