Birmingham Alabama Child Support Lawyer Defending Your Rights
Anytime you are dependent on receiving child support, the ability to receive it or have the child support order enforced is important in your life. The 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.
As your Attorney, I take child support matters equally as important. Ingram Law LLC and Joseph A. Ingram handle child support matters based on 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 me to present the best case to the court for you.
Establishment of Child Support in Alabama
Alabama has statewide child support guidelines. In fact, the guidelines were recently modified for cost of living adjustments a few years ago. The changes for cost of living modifications have been the most significant changes in twenty years. The guidelines determine the amount of child support based on the combined gross income of both of the parties. Other factors the court may consider are extracurricular activities the children are involved in. Activities can include football, baseball, basketball, soccer, band or any other activity that involves additional expenses for the child. Generally, I encourage the custodial parent to keep an expense ledger of their spending habits for 3-6 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 times determine the appropriate amount of child support for their needs.
If the parents of a child or children 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 when the parties are not legally married. Joseph A. Ingram with Ingram Law LLC 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 would rather not be held responsible for paying child support or their future college expenses.
Call today to discuss your child support questions, obligations and issues with an experienced attorney, Joseph A. Ingram with Ingram Law LLC. Call me at 205-335-2640 or contact me online to schedule an initial confidential consultation to discuss your case.
Our office is conveniently located at 3 Office Park Circle Suite 230, Birmingham, AL 35223.