Joint custody is shared legal or physical custody of children when the parents are separated or divorced. If parents decide on joint custody, they will share in the daily care of the children. Child support is a huge part of any custody agreement, and if you’re a Florida resident, here are some things you should know about navigating your joint custody arrangement.
The CSSA
The Child Support Standards Act Statute or CSSA, was established in 2008 and is a set of regulations that help determine a parent’s child support obligations. However, the CSSA does not dictate how much each parent must pay or provide details for how joint custody terms will be carried out.
Individual courts will decide the amount each parent must pay in child support according to the laws of the state. Local laws, each parent’s income, and the amount of time the children spend with a parent will factor into the court’s ruling.
Additional factors to consider
According to the CSSA, the courts can mandate that a parent who doesn’t care for the children daily pay child support based on the number of children, income, and whether the parent who spends the least time with the children cares for them overnight.
The Income Shares Model is used in most instances to determine child support payments. This model assigned part of the responsibility of financial care to each parent based on physical custody and income. A fixed percentage is used to determine how much the non-custodial parent will pay each month. In some instances, a hybrid model is used to determine support payments based on what is fair for both parents.