Providing a safe and supportive home for a child is expensive — especially when the parents live apart. Child support can help ease the burden.
Generally, the amount of support is based on income or earning capacity, along with a host of other factors. Cohn Slater can help with calculating and securing child support payments and enforcing child support orders.
If paternity is disputed, we can arrange for DNA testing to confirm parentage. Delaying a paternity evaluation could result in the loss of child support payments; so we urge swift legal action. Once paternity is confirmed, our attorneys can advocate for a fair award of child support.
Also, in that event that a parent who owes child support fails to pay, he or she may be found in contempt of court, which can fetch penalties including the garnishment of tax refunds or bank deposits, placement of liens against assets, suspension of driver’s licenses, or even incarceration.
Additionally, substantial changes to financial or custodial circumstances may warrant a modification to existing child support orders.
Life changes are a virtual certainty. Cohn Slater will work to make sure that your child support order appropriately reflects your current circumstances.