Seeking Retroactive Child Support

Parents often go back to court to modify child support arrangements, but what happens if you never had an arrangement in place? In some situations, you might be eligible to receive retroactive child support.

Retroactive child support is payments that are made to go back and make up for payments that were never made in the past. They could include payments that go all the way back to the birth of the child. However, retroactive child support is by no means automatic or mandatory. The parent in custody of the children must specifically ask to receive it, and then it’s up to the court to determine whether or not they will actually award it.

Here are some of the reasons that courts might choose to give retroactive child support awards:

  • The non-custodial parent either intentionally avoided child support payments in the past or concealed the amount of money they had or were making
  • The scheduled final hearing on child support was delayed, leaving the custodial parent without support for a time
  • The custodial parent seeking retroactive child support proves a need for it

When calculating the amount of retroactive child support to give, courts will base the payments on the amount of money that the non-custodial parent was earning during the time period in question. Courts must also consider whether that non-custodial parent had paid any money to the custodial parent, or whether he or she knew that they were required to pay child support at that time.

For more information on retroactive child support, including limits and potential challenges to receiving it, speak with a skilled Long Island child support attorney at Bryan L. Salamone & Associates today.

Post a Comment

Your email is never published nor shared. Required fields are marked *

*
*