Helping You Determine How You Will Support Your Children
At The Law Office of Ashley McCartney, LLC, we understand that one of your main concerns is how your divorce will affect your children. We help to make this transition as smooth as possible for all of you, beginning with how you will support them.
The Factors That Impact Child Support Determinations
Couples with minor children are required to submit a parenting plan to the Georgia courts as part of their divorce. This lays out all of the guidelines for co-parenting the children going forward, including which parent the children will primarily be living with, when the parents spend time with the children and how decisions about the children will be made.
The state child support guidelines outline how much money is expected for the support and maintenance of the children. Each parent’s income is entered into the Georgia Child Support Worksheet, which serves as a guideline for the final child support obligation. Expenses for the children such as child care, health insurance premiums and any extraordinary expenses are also included in the Georgia Child Support Worksheet and affect the final child support obligation.
Other factors include how much time each parent has with the children (including deployment issues) and other forms of insurance, besides health care, that are paid for by the noncustodial parent. Within this framework, there is room to adjust for extracurricular activities and children with special needs, as well as other issues you and your spouse feel need to be addressed.
We help you review your own finances, as well as those of your spouse to determine what the child support contribution for one of you should be. We look at your financial situation in terms of what your children’s needs are and make any adjustments necessary to the proposed contribution.
When You Need A Modification Of Child Support Orders
During your children’s growing years, their needs may change or your ability to pay may change. If this happens, you may petition the court for a modification of your previous court order to accommodate this change.
For any modification of a court order in Atlanta, there must be proof of a substantial change in circumstance — for instance, if either parent lost his or her job or if a child no longer requires full-time child care. Modifying a court order for child custody and visitation may also happen during your children’s minority. If a parent has relocated, this may impact not only the custody arrangement, but also child support.
We submit your petition to the courts and negotiate with your spouse and his or her lawyer to adjust the child support payment, custody, visitation and any other aspects of your previous order that are no longer workable to fit your needs. We give you an honest assessment of what the courts will accept and what your former spouse is entitled to. We find out where you can be flexible and where you cannot.
Do Not Leave Your Child Support Matter To Chance
Call 404-874-0240 to reach The Law Office of Ashley McCartney, LLC, or contact us, so you can come in and talk about what happened and what needs to happen now during a consultation. Our legal representation helps you move forward with your life. We accept credit cards for payment.