Child Support: Understanding Children’s Rights

After granting dissolution of marriage to a married couple, the court proceeds to the resolution of the resulting issues, primarily child custody and child support. Custody and support will protect the children from the physical impact of the separation of their parents, particularly on food, shelter, clothing and educational needs.

Child support is a special issue covered by Family Law. This is not only associated or covered by marital separation but another major issue with separate independent provisions, although frequently this is a result of marital separation. As the parents separate, one will be obliged to pay a certain amount to another intended for child support. The monetary support will provide for the children’s needs.

The party paying for support is called the obligor and the other being paid is the obligee. The court determines the amount to be paid and the period of payment depending on the specific needs of the child. Child support usually ends when the child becomes capable of supporting himself or herself, usually when he or she reaches legal age. Many cities like Jacksonville, FL are very keen with child support as a sensitive issue arising after marital separation.

Either the obligor or the obligee can be the custodial parent of the child, meaning legally responsible to provide guardianship of the child until he or she reaches legal age. Frequently, the obligee acts as the custodial parent to the child. However, any family law attorney Jacksonville can attest that in some cases, a parent can both be the obligor and the custodial parent.

In the case of a parent being both the obligor and the custodial parent, he or she is legally responsible to keep the child and pay the obligee for child support at the same time. This technically explains the independence of the determination of the obligor and obligee from the determination of the custodial and non-custodial parent. A family law attorney Jacksonville can argue that both parents be custodial to the child.

The most common difference a family law attorney Jacksonville can point out between having custody and giving child support is that in having custody, both parents can be custody of the child by the court, while in giving child support, one will always be the obligor and the other obligee. Joint custody means both are custodial parents, sharing responsibilities in keeping the child but one still pays the other for child support.