Birmingham Child Support Lawyer

Family Law Services in Jefferson County

When a child is born, both the mother and father are legally responsible for the child’s care. This is often enforced through child support, or mandatory payments made by one parent to the custodial parent.

Courts take child support matters more seriously now than they have ever done. In fact, some courts are more willing to hold a parent in civil or criminal contempt of court for failing to pay child support. The good news is that if you are willing to hold the other party accountable, you can enforce your child support order.

At Ingram Law, we take child support matters seriously, too. Our Birmingham family lawyer handles child support matters by gathering the relevant income information to present to the court. It is necessary for you to collect income statements, tax returns, and any other documents that are related to your income for us to present the best case to the court on your behalf. Rest assured that with Ingram Law on your side, you can ensure that fair child support payments are implemented and paid.

Establishing Child Support in Alabama

Alabama has statewide child support guidelines. In fact, the guidelines were recently modified for cost of living adjustments. These guidelines determine the amount of child support based on the combined gross income of both of the parties. The court may also consider extracurricular activities the children are involved in when determining child support payments.

Generally, we encourage the custodial parent to keep an expense ledger of their spending habits for three to six months to get an accurate picture of the actual needs of their child or children. In a divorce case, parents often agree to the child support amount listed in the guidelines. However, when the income of the parties exceeds $10,000.00 a month or the child has a significant number of activities that they participate in, a judge will often determine the appropriate amount of child support for their needs.

Paternity Testing

If the parents of a child are not legally married, the father’s paternity must be determined by paternity testing before a child support order can be obtained. These cases are held before a judge in family court. Ingram Law can help you with the establishment of your paternity in these cases. The establishment of paternity is an important issue. If you are not the natural parent of a child, you should not be held responsible for paying child support.