Child Support is based on the Florida Child Support Guidelines established by the Florida legislature.

Basically, your child support amount will be calculated according to Florida law.  To calculate the amount one party pays to the other, you will need both parties’ gross income subtract allowable deductions (Health insurance, daycare, involuntary retirement, and limited other deductions) then then Federal Tax is applied and deducted.  (Attorneys, Department of Revenue for Child Support Enforcement, and Courts have a program that does this tricky part).  Once you have the combined net amount (total combined incomed less allowable deductions and taxes).  You look up the total obligation on the chart provided in Statute 61.30 for the number of children you have.  The legislature has provided a chart that is the presumptive child support amount based on the total combined income of both parties.

Example:

Your allocated obligation is based on the percentage on income to both parties combined income.  For example, if party A make $200.00 per month and party B makes $600.00 per month, your percentage of support is based on the same percentage: A=25% and B=75% of the total combined income (as if you were still together as a family unit).  If your total support obligation for one child is $190.00 per month, then Party A pays (25% of $800.00) $47.50 per month because their income is 25% of the total combined income of both parties; and, B pays (75% of $800.00) $142.50 per month because party B’s income is 75% of the parties total combined income.

If Party A has the majority timesharing then rather than paying $47.50 to the Party B, this amount is assume that Party A is already paying this amount for the child’s needs.  Party B then pays to Party A the remaining amount of $142.50 as stated in the calculations.

(Other factors added to this calculation are health insurance for the child and daycare expenses, which are also shared according to the parties combined income percentages and added to the support amount).

Florida does allow for another calculation to include timesharing for both parties is over 20%.  In theory, the law presumes both parties are supporting the child according to their respective timesharing allocations and factored into this calculation.  This can get complicated.