Last Updated on: 5th April 2023, 07:14 pm

Get Fair Child Support for Your Children with Spodek Law Group’s Help

Do you live in Bergen County, NJ, and feel overwhelmed by child support expenses for your kids? Perhaps, you believe that you’re overpaying or that the support award was inaccurately calculated. If so, you’re not alone. The experienced attorneys at Spodek Law Group can help you get a fair child support award that adequately provides for your children.

When your child’s situation has changed since the court first granted child support, you may feel like your child isn’t receiving the financial support they deserve. We understand that parents want to take care of their children, but they also do not want to be taken advantage of.

Child support is a critical aspect of divorce that the experienced family law attorneys at Spodek Law Group can help you with. Some parents believe that an attorney can’t alter the total amount of child support. Since child support is based on the New Jersey Child Support Guidelines, it’s reasonable to think that everything about it is cut-and-dried. However, that’s not always the case.

An experienced divorce and family law attorney can assist you in coming to an agreement with the other parent relating to child support. With a child support agreement, parents can have the flexibility to do what’s best for their unique circumstances.

When an agreement isn’t possible, the matter can go to court. In that case, a skilled child support lawyer can help gather evidence that the court requires to establish the paying parent’s true gross income.

Spodek Law Group: Compassionate and Skilled Attorneys

You deserve a compassionate and skilled attorney who will help you fight for your children’s best interests. At Spodek Law Group, our attorneys have the expertise and experience to handle family law disputes like yours. Our attorneys have more than a decade of experience handling every case on a personal level.

When you call our offices, you’ll speak to an attorney who practices exclusively on family law and has a selective caseload. We have honed our skills by focusing on our clients. We understand that it can be financially and emotionally stressful when you’re dealing with child support. We provide our clients with the guidance they need to handle their child support issues. We can help you with initial child support calculations, changes in child support awards, and collecting unpaid child support obligations. Contact our caring family law attorneys today to get started.

Child Support Lawyers Available Throughout Bergen County

Spodek Law Group offers legal representation to clients across Bergen County, NJ, and North Jersey. We have offices conveniently located in Hackensack and Madison. We represent clients in Teaneck, Englewood, Ridgewood, Tenafly, Franklin Lakes, Upper Saddle River, Allendale, Old Tappan, Hohokus, and Saddle River. Don’t hesitate to give our law firm a call to get started on your child support case today.

Understanding Child Support in New Jersey

All parents have a legal obligation to financially support their children. This means that both parents are responsible for meeting their child’s needs. The right to child support belongs to the child, and child support is the means by which the State of New Jersey ensures that divorced or unmarried parents are held responsible for their duty of support.

In New Jersey, the custodial parent is the one who receives child support, known as the payee, while the noncustodial parent pays child support, known as the payor. Parents cannot avoid their duty to pay child support by fighting for shared custody. Cases involving shared custody still require court orders for child support.

Child support can be used to cover the expenses of the minor child, including food, shelter, clothing and shoes, education expenses, medical costs, health care expenses, and health insurance. Additionally, certain extracurricular activities can also be covered by child support. For example, if a child is involved in an extracurricular activity that requires a helmet, child support can be used to cover the cost of that helmet.

However, it is important to note that the child support guidelines in New Jersey do not include college tuition. Nonetheless, New Jersey courts generally expect parents to contribute to their child’s college education expenses. In some cases, parents may be excused from paying toward a child’s college education expenses. A skilled child support attorney in Bergen County, New Jersey can help navigate the details of a child support award. The attorneys at Spodek Law Group, including our attorney Todd Spodek, offer the privacy and flexibility of negotiated child support arrangements, but we are also prepared to take the matter before the court if necessary.

Calculating child support in New Jersey can be challenging, as courts use a fixed formula set out in the New Jersey Child Support Guidelines to determine the amount of child support. The formula considers the combined gross income of both parents, the number of children involved, and the percentage of parenting time allocated to each parent. Gross income is defined as income from any source and includes compensation for services, such as wages, salaries, fees, tips, and commissions, overtime, part-time, and severance pay, bonuses, royalties, and profit-sharing plans, and alimony and separate maintenance payments from current or past cases.

Other sources of income include rents received, less ordinary and necessary expenses, annuity payments or trust disbursements, life insurance and endowment contracts, retirement funds such as Social Security, Veterans Administration, deferred compensation, Keoughs, and IRAs, personal injury awards, disability payments, and workers’ compensation awards. While most people do not receive income from all of these sources, an experienced child support lawyer can help identify all qualifying sources of income to ensure that the child support award is accurate.

There are several important factors to consider when calculating gross income for child support awards in NJ. For instance, when one or both parents derive their income from operating a business, a savvy attorney can have a substantial impact on child support. The law defines gross income from a business to include all revenues earned from the operation of the business, less only ordinary and necessary operating expenses. An expert’s evaluation of business profits and losses, as well as the ordinary and necessary operating expenses claimed by the business-operating parent, can meaningfully change the total gross income.

In some cases, uncommon but potentially substantial sources of income may be related to dealing in property, a parent’s interest in a decedent’s estate or a trust, or net gambling winnings. Additionally, in some rare situations, it may not be possible to prove all sources of a parent’s income. A knowledgeable attorney can help understand New Jersey’s imputed income law and when a court will impute income to a parent whose sources of income cannot be determined.

In cases where one or both parents are high earners or have a high net worth, special considerations apply to child support awards. The New Jersey Child Support Guidelines provide recommended figures for families with a combined gross income of less than $5800 per week. If the parents’ combined gross income exceeds that amount, they are above the New Jersey Child Support Guidelines income cap.

Parents may attempt mediation to come to an agreement if there is a heightened desire for privacy in cases with high-earning or high-net-worth families. Although the agreement must still be approved by the court, mediation can prevent private information from being introduced into the public record.

As children grow and time goes on, their financial needs may change. One or both parents may also experience a change in income. When such changes occur and impact the child’s financial needs or the parents’ ability to pay, it may be necessary to seek a modification of the child support order.

At Spodek Law Group Divorce Lawyers, our experienced child support attorneys can help you determine whether it is time to re-evaluate your child support award. If you have any questions or you are not sure whether your circumstances support a child support modification, we can help clarify your doubts.

Additionally, if you are not receiving the child support payments that you are owed, we can help you collect the unpaid child support. The State of New Jersey prefers to automatically deduct child support from the paying parent’s paycheck and send the money to the receiving parent for the benefit of the child. However, in some cases, enforcement actions may be necessary to protect your child’s right to financial support.

Why You Need a Child Support Attorney

Child support is a crucial aspect of divorce, and it’s important to ensure that the child support award is fair and accurately calculated. While it may be tempting to handle child support issues on your own, a skilled and experienced child support attorney can help you navigate the complex legal system and protect your rights and interests.

At Spodek Law Group Divorce Lawyers, we understand that every family law case is unique, and we provide personalized legal services to each of our clients. We have a team of experienced attorneys who focus exclusively on family law, including child support issues, and we’re here to help you.

We also understand that dealing with child support issues can be emotionally and financially stressful. That’s why we provide our clients with the guidance and support they need to handle their child support issues. Our attorneys handle every case on a personal level, and when you call our offices, you will be connected to a lawyer whose practice is focused exclusively on family law and whose caseload is selective.

We’ve honed our skills by choosing a narrow focus on our clients, and we’re here to help you too. Our attorneys have over 150 years of combined experience handling family law disputes just like yours. We’re dedicated to protecting your rights and interests and fighting for what’s best for your children.

Our Approach to Child Support Cases

We take a compassionate and client-focused approach to child support cases. We understand that every family is unique, and we tailor our legal services to meet the specific needs and goals of each of our clients. Our attorneys have extensive experience in handling child support cases, and we can help you with:

Initial child support calculations
Modifications to child support awards
Collecting unpaid child support obligations
Enforcement actions
Negotiated child support arrangements
Litigation
We will work closely with you to understand your unique situation and develop a legal strategy that’s tailored to your specific needs and goals. We know that you want what’s best for your children, and we’re here to help you fight for it.

Contact Our Bergen County Child Support Lawyers Today

If you’re facing child support issues in Bergen County, New Jersey, don’t hesitate to contact Spodek Law Group Divorce Lawyers for legal advice and representation. Our experienced child support attorneys are ready to help you fight for a fair child support award that provides for the needs of your children.

As always, your first consultation is free, and we will work with you to determine the best course of action for your specific case. Don’t wait any longer to get the legal help you need. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation with one of our skilled child support attorneys.