Most
people understand what is meant by child support.
Simply put, child support law says that the parents
of a child or children are under a legal obligation
to contribute to the maintence, education and support
(i.e. "economic support") of the child or
children. What many women don't know is: How is child
support calculated; How does child support payment
collection and enforcement work; and how do you contact
child support services?
Child Support Calculation
Uniform
child support legislation means that there may not
be a huge difference between say Texas child support
and California child support. However, below you will
find links to a Child Support Guidelines Calculator
for each US State in any case, as offered by
AllLaw.com. Just click on your State and then
fill out the details. The results provided
by the child support calculator are estimates which
are constructed around the information you provide.
..so be as accurate as you can so you get a good idea
of what your support order will be.
Child Support Guidelines Calculators
For All US States
Child Support Services
In
the United States there are Child Support Services
in the various States as well as a Federal Child Support
Agency. You'll find them in the telephone directory
or through a quick search on the Internet (For example,
just type in "texas child support services").
Child Support Payment Collection and Enforcement
Basically,
the government assesses the amount of the child support
payment and is responsible for child support collection
and child support enforcement. Legislation allows
for a wide range of collection methods ranging from
the deduction of child support from your husband's
wage, directly by his employer; seizure of tax refund
checks to the forced sale of property.
In
other parts of the world (e.g. Australia), child support
law is administered solely by the Federal Government
and failure to meet a child support assessment creates
a debt, not to the other parent but to the government
itself!
