Delray Beach Child Support Lawyer
A child support order that matches what each household earns and how the children actually spend their time is the goal in almost every case we see, whether the order is being set for the first time, challenged, or changed. Williams & Varsegi, LLC is a boutique firm that practices exclusively in divorce and family law, and our team handles child support matters for parents in Delray Beach and throughout Palm Beach County and Broward County. We work with parents who have modest, straightforward incomes and with those whose finances are far more complicated.
Child support in Florida is not decided by a judge’s instinct. Section 61.30 sets a guideline amount, and that figure is presumed to be the correct amount of support. The fight, when there is one, is almost always over the inputs: what counts as income, which deductions are allowed, how many overnights each parent really has, and whether anything justifies stepping away from the guideline.
How the Florida Guideline Number Gets Built
The calculation starts with each parent’s net income. Net income is gross income minus the deductions the statute allows, and the two parents’ net figures are added together to produce a combined monthly net income. That combined number is matched against the guidelines schedule, then the result is divided between the parents in proportion to what each contributes. Health insurance premiums for the children, daycare costs, and certain other expenses are layered on top and divided the same way.
Where families in the Delray Beach area often hit a wall is the top of the schedule. When combined monthly net income exceeds $10,000, the schedule no longer supplies a number on its own. Instead, support is the schedule’s minimum amount plus a percentage of the income above $10,000: 5.0% for one child, 7.5% for two, 9.5% for three, 11.0% for four, 12.0% for five, and 12.5% for six. For households with business income, bonuses, or equity compensation, the real work is establishing what the net income figure honestly is before that formula is applied.
Overnights matter too. When a parent exercises at least 20 percent of the overnights, which works out to roughly 73 nights a year, the statute applies a time-sharing adjustment that reduces the support obligation. Because of that threshold, parents sometimes fight over a handful of overnights, and a time-sharing schedule negotiated without thinking about the support consequences can cost real money. Since the 2023 amendment to section 61.13, courts begin with a rebuttable presumption that equal time-sharing is in the child’s best interest, which makes the overnight count and the support figure even more closely linked.
Why Parents Choose Williams & Varsegi, LLC for Child Support
Williams & Varsegi, LLC is a boutique family law firm with over twenty years of experience, and divorce and family law is all we do. We serve clients in Delray Beach, Boca Raton, Coral Springs, Parkland, and across Palm Beach and Broward County. Our caseload runs from high-net worth, high-conflict matters to uncontested and simplified cases, so we are comfortable whether the dispute is about a single income or about a business, investment accounts, and layered compensation.
Our attorneys, Katie and Emerald Williams, Lawyer, work directly with clients, so the person who knows your file is the person you speak with. Client reviews of the firm repeatedly describe the team as responsive and knowledgeable, and one client who was represented for more than three years said the process felt smoother and less anxious. The firm carries a 5-Star Rating from its clients. When a support case turns on a disputed income figure, we work with forensic accountants, business valuators, and other experts, and we have extensive courtroom experience for the cases that cannot be settled. We are skilled negotiators first, but we are experienced litigators when negotiation stalls.
The Child Support Issues That Come Up Most Often
- Initial Support in a Divorce: When parents are divorcing, support is set as part of the final judgment and is usually tied to the parenting plan. Temporary support can be requested while the case is pending so the lower-earning household is not left waiting.
- Self-Employed and Business-Owner Income: Owners can legitimately reduce taxable income in ways that do not reflect what they actually have available. Sorting out personal expenses run through a company, retained earnings, and fluctuating revenue is often the core of a support dispute.
- Income Above the Guidelines Schedule: Once combined net income passes the top of the schedule, the percentage-above-$10,000 formula applies, and the fight shifts to how much income really exists and whether the children’s actual needs justify more.
- Time-Sharing and the 20 Percent Threshold: A parent with at least roughly 73 overnights a year gets a statutory adjustment. Negotiating the schedule and the support figure together prevents unpleasant surprises.
- Deviation From the Guideline: The guideline is presumed correct, but a court can depart from it. Any deviation of more than five percent requires written findings explaining why.
- Modification After a Job Loss, Raise, or Schedule Change: A change is presumed substantial when a fresh guideline calculation differs enough from the current order, measured by a percentage or a flat dollar amount, whichever is greater. A parent who simply feels the order is unfair does not clear that bar.
- Orders Reviewed by the Department of Revenue: If an order is being handled through the Department of Revenue and the award differs from the current guideline by at least 10 percent and at least $25, the department can seek modification without proof of changed circumstances.
- Enforcement and Unpaid Support: When a parent stops paying, the receiving parent can ask the court to enforce the order, and the paying parent has the right to ask for relief before arrears pile up.
What to Do Right Now if Support Is on the Table
Start by gathering paperwork, because the guideline number is only as good as the documents behind it. That means recent pay stubs, the last few years of tax returns, business financial statements if either parent owns a company, records of health insurance premiums for the children, and receipts for daycare or after-school costs. Florida requires full financial disclosure in family cases, and a parent who hides income or assets invites penalties and loses credibility with the judge.
Next, think about the overnights. Keep an honest calendar of who actually has the children, because the time-sharing adjustment depends on real numbers, and a parent who is close to the 20 percent line needs to know exactly where they stand before agreeing to any schedule.
For filing, Delray Beach parents have a convenient option: the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit’s South County Courthouse in Delray Beach accepts family court cases. Other filing locations within Palm Beach County include the Main Judicial Complex in West Palm Beach and the North County Courthouse in Palm Beach Gardens. Broward County cases fall under the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit’s Family Division.
Avoid the common mistakes. Do not agree to an informal arrangement and assume it is enforceable, because only a court order can be enforced. Do not stop paying because the other parent is interfering with time-sharing, since support and time-sharing are treated as separate obligations. And do not wait on a modification: relief generally cannot reach back before the date a request is filed, so delay costs money.
When Support Needs to Change After the Order Is Entered
Life moves faster than court orders. A parent loses a job, a business falters, a child’s needs change, or the parenting schedule shifts. A modification request has to show a substantial change, and for support the statute gives a practical test: if a recalculation under the current guideline produces a number that differs from the existing order by enough, a substantial change is presumed. Because the presumption is tied to the guideline itself, the strongest modification cases are the ones built on clean, current financial documents.
Changes to the parenting plan work differently but affect support all the same. Modifying time-sharing requires a substantial and material change in circumstances, and the Legislature removed the old requirement that the change be unanticipated. If a move is involved, remember that a relocation under section 61.13001 means at least 50 miles from the prior residence for at least 60 consecutive days, and a parent objecting to a relocation petition must respond in writing within 20 days of being served. A relocation can reshape both the overnight count and the support figure, so the two issues need to be handled together.
Delray Beach Child Support Questions Parents Ask
How is child support calculated in Florida?
Each parent’s net income is determined by subtracting allowable deductions from gross income, the two figures are combined, and that combined number is applied to the guidelines schedule in section 61.30. Health insurance and daycare costs are then added and shared. The resulting figure is presumed to be the correct amount of support.
What if our combined income is higher than the guidelines schedule covers?
Above $10,000 in combined monthly net income, support equals the schedule minimum plus a percentage of the excess: 5.0% for one child, 7.5% for two, 9.5% for three, 11.0% for four, 12.0% for five, and 12.5% for six. Disputes in higher-income families usually center on how net income is measured.
Does the number of overnights change the amount?
Yes. A parent who has at least 20 percent of the overnights, roughly 73 a year, receives a time-sharing adjustment that lowers the support obligation. Below that line, the adjustment does not apply.
Can a judge order something different from the guideline amount?
Yes, but the guideline is presumed correct. A departure of more than five percent in either direction requires the court to make written findings explaining the reason.
How do I ask the court to change an existing support order?
You file a modification request and show a substantial change in circumstances. For support, that change is presumed when a recalculation under the current guideline differs enough from the existing order, measured by a percentage or a set dollar amount, whichever is greater.
Can a premarital agreement limit child support?
No. Under Florida’s Uniform Premarital Agreement Act, a child’s right to support cannot be adversely affected by a premarital agreement, regardless of what the parents agreed to about their own finances.
What if the other parent owns a business and I think income is hidden?
Discovery is the tool. Both parents must make full financial disclosure, and we can bring in forensic accountants and business valuators to trace personal expenses paid through a company and to establish what income is truly available. Concealing income can lead to penalties.
Does my child support case involve the Department of Revenue?
It can. For orders the Department of Revenue is reviewing, if the existing award differs from the current guideline by at least 10 percent and not less than $25, the department can seek modification without requiring proof of a changed circumstance.
Can I reduce support because I was denied time with my children?
Generally no. Courts treat support and time-sharing as separate obligations, so withholding payment is risky. The better course is to ask the court to enforce the parenting plan while continuing to meet the support obligation.
Will a move out of Delray Beach affect support?
It can. A relocation of at least 50 miles lasting 60 consecutive days or more triggers section 61.13001, and a changed schedule can change the overnight count and therefore the support figure. An objection to a relocation petition must be filed and served in writing within 20 days.
Is it worth hiring a lawyer if we mostly agree?
Often, yes. Even a cooperative arrangement has to be written so it is enforceable and consistent with the guideline, and a small drafting error in the time-sharing schedule can quietly change the support amount for years.
Serving Child Support Clients Around Delray Beach and South Florida
Our work for Delray Beach families extends outward through Palm Beach County, including Boca Raton, Boynton Beach, Highland Beach, Gulf Stream, Ocean Ridge, Lantana, Lake Worth Beach, Wellington, West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, and Jupiter. Across the county line in Broward County, we represent parents in Coral Springs, Parkland, Deerfield Beach, Coconut Creek, Margate, Pompano Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and Plantation.
Whether your case belongs in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit or the Seventeenth, the guideline math and the underlying statutes are the same, and our attorneys know how to build a financial record that holds up in either court. Appeals from both circuits go to the Fourth District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach, a point that matters when a support ruling needs to be challenged.
Talk With a Delray Beach Child Support Attorney
If you need to establish, defend, or change a support order, a Delray Beach child support attorney at Williams & Varsegi, LLC can review your numbers, explain where the guideline is likely to land, and tell you honestly whether a dispute is worth having. Call us to schedule a consultation and bring your most recent income documents so we can start with real figures.
