Generally, child support is determined by child support guidelines. The first child is 20% of the net resources of the payor or “obligor, plus the cost of health insurance for the child and 50% of unreimbursed medical expenses. Each additional child typically equates to an additional 5% of the obligor’s net resources. When the obligor is supporting children in more than one household, the percentage for each child goes down slightly. The Court can look at 17 other factors to award above or below guideline child support under special situations listed in 154.123 of the Texas Family Law Code.
Retroactive child support
Retroactive child support for parents not under a child support order can be sought back to separation date of the parties. However, the law presumes that 4 years of retroactive child support is in the child’s best interest. To obtain the full 4 years, the Court will look at (1) the mother’s prior attempts to notify the father of his probably paternity, (2) the father’s knowledge of his probable paternity, (3) whether the imposition of the retroactive support will impose a great financial hardship on the Obligor and the Obligor’s family and (4) the actual support paid by the Obligor. If the Court finds that a father knew or should have known he was the father, and he sought to avoid the establishment of child support, the Court can go back further than 4 years in awarding retroactive child support.
I have been successful in obtaining the full 4 years of retroactive child support and defending against retroactive child support.