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Copyright (C) 2010 by Gary William Cunha, all rights reserved
Family Law
Child Support - Child Custody
Child Support
Child Support in Texas is based on the "best interests of the child[ren]." The standard is based on net resources from all sources (except for return of principal/capital, accounts receivable, TANF, federal public assistance, or foster care payments) less social security taxes, federal income tax (based on the rate of a single person claiming one personal exemption and the standard deduction), state income tax (if any), union dues, and the cost of health care for the child.
If the obligor (person paying child support) has no other children to support, take the above number and multiply it by:
.20 for one child
.25 for two children
.30 for three children
.35 for four children
.40 for five children
at least .40 for six or more children
If the obligor has more children not before the court then use the chart below:
children before the court
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
children 1 .175 .225 .2738 .322 .3733 .3771 .38
not 2 .16 .2063 .252 .3033 .3543 .36 .3644
before 3 .1475 .19 .24 .29 .34 .3467 .352
court 4 .1360 .1833 .2314 .28 .3289 .336 .3418
5 .1333 .1786 .225 .2722 .32 .3273 .3333
6 .1314 .175 .22 .266 .3127 .32 .3262
7 .13 .1722 .216 .2609 .3067 .3138 .32
The judge can deviate from the schedule shown.
Child Custody
Child Custody is determined on the "best interests of the child[ren]" standard in Texas. The presumption in Texas is Joint Managing Conservators, with one being the person who designates the residence of the children (often called the "primary conservator" in layman's terms) and one who gets visitation and pays child support. "Joint Managing Conservators" does not mean equal access, nor does it mean paying no child support [two mistaken assumptions I often hear]. The presumption continues that the best interests of the child[ren] are served by the "standard visitation order" which provides that the conservator who does not establish the residence of the child[ren]. Standard visitation is the First, Third, and Fifth weekend of each month, plus two hours during the week, extended periods during the summer, and certain holidays. This schedule changes if the parties live more than 100 miles away from each other, by making the summer visits longer in exchange for less frequent visits during the school year.