Child support lawyer RI
This informative post documents frequently asked questions and answers about child support in Rhode Island. This legal post, related to family law in Providence Family Court, was authored by an East Providence Family Court Lawyer. If you are in need of legal representation in a child support case contact a Rhode Island child support lawyer. A RI child support attorney can get you justice and provide excellent legal advice.
What if my child’s parent works overtime? Will overtime be included?
Yes, overtime is factored into child support in Rhode Island
My child is about to turn 18 but is still in high school and living at home, can I still get child support?
Under Rhode Island Law, child payments should end when a child turns 18 and graduates high school. If the child is still in high school, then the obligation to pay will continue until the child turns 19.
Child support in Rhode Island and Providence Plantations continues even after the child turns 18 unless a Motion to terminate child support is filed. If you are a parent who does not have physical custody of your children, your best option is to contact a RI child support lawyer to file a Motion to Terminate approximately 40 days prior to your child turning 18 and graduating high school. This will mean that the motion will be heard on a court date soon after the child turns 18. Please note that the non-custodial parent can still be found in contempt for failure to pay even after the child turns 18 if there is no motion granted to terminate. If a child is severely disabled, support may continue indefinitely.
Can I get my child’s father to be ordered to pay for my child’s college education?
In Rhode Island the Court has no jurisdiction to order a parent to pay for the college education of his/her child. However, if pursuant to a Property Settlement Agreement or other contract, one party agrees to pay for a child’s education, then that agreement may be enforced by a court of law. Therefore, if you want to have your child’s parent pay for your child’s college education, then you must negotiate payment of college expenses as part of a global settlement of the divorce or custody agreement or other similar agreement.
The Rhode Island minimum guidelines account for both the importance and expense of daycare. The child support guidelines and worksheet are used to determine the proper amount of child support to be paid by the non-possessory parent. The bottom line is that a party will be ordered to pay approximately the same percentage of the daycare that the party makes in relation to that party’s percentage of the combined gross income of both parties.
Resources:
“Child support income accounted for over two-thirds (70.3 percent) of the mean annual personal income for custodial parents below poverty who received full child support. • About half (48.7 percent) of all custodial parents had either legal or informal child support agreements, and custodial mothers were more likely to have agreements (52.3 percent) than custodial fathers (31.4 percent). • About three-quarters (74.1 percent) of custodial parents who were due child support in 2013 received either full or partial payments and less than half (45.6 percent) received full payments.” Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2013 By Timothy Grall Current Population Reports Issued January 2016 P60-255 Census
“The FY 2014 Preliminary Report provides data reported by all state child support programs and includes information on collections, expenditures, paternities, orders established, and other program statistics. This report does not contain data from tribal child support programs. Tribal data will be reported in the FY 2014 Annual Report to Congress.” US. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration of children and families- Office of child support enforcement acf