Both parents have a legal duty to support their children financially — whether they were married, are divorcing, or were never together. Florida takes the guesswork out of the amount: Florida Statute § 61.30 sets mandatory guidelines that produce a presumptively correct support figure in every case involving minor children. Understanding how that calculation works — and where there’s room to fight about it — matters equally to parents paying support and parents receiving it.
At The Law Office of John Vernon Moore, P.A., we handle child support establishment, modification, and enforcement throughout Brevard County.
The Income Shares Model
Florida’s guidelines rest on a simple principle: children should receive the same share of parental income they would have received in an intact household. Both parents’ incomes are combined to determine the total support obligation, and each parent is responsible for their proportional share — a parent earning 70% of the combined income bears 70% of the obligation.
Three ground rules shape everything else. Child support belongs to the child, not to either parent — parents can’t waive it or trade it away without court approval. Support and time-sharing are independent obligations — support is owed whether or not the paying parent exercises their parenting time, and time-sharing can’t be withheld over unpaid support. And the guideline amount is presumptive — courts can deviate, but only within limits and, beyond 5%, only with written findings.
The Calculation, Step by Step
Step 1 — Gross income, defined broadly. Salary, wages, tips, commissions, regular bonuses and overtime, self-employment income after legitimate business expenses, disability benefits (SSDI, VA, private), workers’ comp, unemployment, pensions and Social Security retirement, alimony received, interest and dividends, rental income, royalties, trust income, and in-kind compensation that reduces living expenses (an employer car or housing). Excluded: SSI, public assistance, and child support received for other children.
Step 2 — Net income. Subtract allowable deductions: income tax withholding (at proper filing status), FICA, mandatory union dues, mandatory retirement contributions, health insurance premiums the parent pays (excluding the children’s coverage, handled separately), and court-ordered support actually paid for other children or former spouses.
Step 3 — The guidelines schedule. Add both parents’ net incomes and find the combined figure in the statutory schedule, which lists the basic monthly obligation for one through six children.
Step 4 — Add-ons. Childcare costs that enable a parent to work or attend school are added — reduced by 25% per the statute — along with the children’s health insurance premium cost and non-covered recurring medical expenses.
Step 5 — Split proportionally. The total obligation is divided by income share, and the parent with fewer overnights generally pays their share to the other parent, who is presumed to spend their share directly on the children’s daily needs.
Imputed Income: The Most-Fought Issue
When a parent is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed, courts can calculate support using what that parent could earn rather than what they do earn. Imputation is appropriate when a parent quit without good cause, refused available work, deliberately cut hours, or took a lower-paying job by choice — especially around the time support was being set.
Imputation is not appropriate when the unemployment is genuinely involuntary: a layoff followed by a diligent job search, a disabling medical condition, full-time care of a very young child of the current relationship, or a bona fide education program that will raise earning capacity. When courts do impute, they base the figure on the parent’s recent earnings history, prevailing local wages for someone with their skills, or a vocational expert’s evaluation.
The Time-Sharing Adjustment
When the parent with fewer overnights has the children at least 20% of the year — 73 overnights — the guidelines shift to a “substantial time-sharing” formula that credits the additional direct costs that parent carries during their time. Below 73 overnights, no adjustment applies.
Two things surprise people about this formula. First, it is not a dollar-for-dollar discount by time percentage — the math recognizes that many child costs (the primary home, school clothes, activity fees) don’t drop just because overnights are split. Second, even at or near 50/50 time-sharing, support usually still flows from the higher earner to the lower earner, so the children have comparable resources in both homes.
Deviating from the Guidelines
Courts may adjust the guideline figure by up to 5% either way after considering the statutory factors, without special findings. Beyond 5%, written findings are required explaining why the guideline amount would be unjust or inappropriate.
Grounds for upward deviation include extraordinary medical, educational, or psychological expenses, a child’s special needs, and older children’s higher costs. Grounds for downward deviation include a child’s independent income or assets, an obligation consuming more than 55% of the payer’s gross income across support orders, and extraordinary costs like long-distance travel for time-sharing. Courts scrutinize downward requests hardest — Florida’s policy tilts firmly toward adequately supported children.
Modifying Support When Life Changes
Support orders can be modified when a substantial change in circumstances produces a guideline amount differing from the existing order by at least 15% or $50, whichever is greater. Qualifying changes include involuntary income changes in either direction (layoffs, promotions, disability), meaningful shifts in the time-sharing schedule, children’s new medical or educational needs, and significant changes in childcare or insurance costs.
Two cautions. A parent who voluntarily tanks their own income cannot ride that reduction to lower support — courts impute the old earning level. And modifications generally run from the date the petition is filed, not the date circumstances changed — so a parent whose income drops should file promptly, because every month of delay accrues arrears at the old rate that cannot be retroactively erased. See our modification of child support page.
Enforcement: What Happens When Support Isn’t Paid
Unpaid support never disappears. Arrears accrue interest, survive the child’s 18th birthday, and remain collectible until paid.
The workhorse remedy is the income deduction order — support withheld from the paycheck and routed through the State Disbursement Unit, required in nearly every Florida support order. Beyond that, the Department of Revenue and the courts can escalate: contempt proceedings (with remedies including attorney’s fees, fines, purge payments, and incarceration for willful non-payment by a parent with the ability to pay), driver’s license and professional license suspension, tax refund interception, liens, credit bureau reporting, and passport denial.
If you genuinely cannot pay — a job loss, a medical crisis — the answer is to file for modification immediately, not to stop paying and hope. Courts distinguish sharply between a parent who can’t pay and promptly says so, and one who simply didn’t. See our contempt and enforcement page.
Need help establishing, modifying, or enforcing child support in Brevard County? Contact The Law Office of John Vernon Moore, P.A. at (321) 529-7777 or info@jmoorelegal.com for a free 30-minute consultation. You can also estimate your guideline amount with our child support calculator.