Georgia Child Support
Calculate and Collect Your Child Support
Get the right child support for your state now. Child Support is an
important part of your monthly budget. Shouldn't you be sure the amount is
correct? Calculate what your support should be OR calculate the arrears owed to you.
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Georgia child support and support enforcement and
collection are all based upon Federal laws. All
states must adhere to Federal support laws to maintain
Federal aid levels under certain Federal programs.
Those Federal laws completely direct the support law
realm in all states. The intent of the Federal
statutory scheme is to maintain a basic support level
for all children. Thus, the Federal Government
based its mandates upon research that determined the
level of support provided to children in intact
families. The support laws in all states are
supposed to provide that same level of support for
children in families where the parents have separated or
divorced.
Georgia child support is an
obligation of both parents. Both parents must provide
for the financial support of their children until the
child reaches the age of 18 or graduates from highschool,
whichever is later. In any event, the parents do not
have an obligation to pay support past the child’s
twentieth (20th) birthday. In issuing an
Order of Support, the Court may award child support from
either parent, based on their customary needs and the
parents’ ability to pay. Georgia has official child
support guidelines to aid the Court in calculating child
support. These guidelines must be applied if the parents
cannot reach an agreement.
Georgia child support guidelines base
the amount of support on the non-custodial parent’s
income. The percentage which a parent must pay increases
depending upon the number of children at issue. For one
child, the non-custodial parent must pay 17-23% of her
gross income, for two children, the range is 23-28%, for
three children the range is 25-32%, for four children the
range is 29-35% and for five or more children the range is
31-37%.
Georgia child support guidelines result
in a presumptively correct amount of child support. If the
Court wishes to vary from the guidelines, specific reasons
(or findings) must be set forth in the record. The Georgia
Code sets forth factors which the Court may consider in
deviating from the guidelines. Some of these factors
include the ages of the children, extraordinary medical
costs or needs, educational costs, daycare costs, shared
physical custody and extended visitation.
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