Legal Question in Family Law in Florida
child support
I hired an attorney to help me get a dna from a 3 month old child..It came back as 99.9995% mine. We are both minors I will be 18 by the april court date she will be 17. We dated for a year. I am being told that she will allow me to see the baby if i pay 60.oo a week plus daycare plus back pay till birth. I was told florida standard is mininum wage 6.79 at 40 hours. I need to know if i have to quit school I have till may plus another year but cant go to school if i have to find a job at 40 hours. I was told that in florida if u dont have a job than its automatically based on minium wage 6.79 at 40 hours. Is this what happens when a good guy steps up to say they think the baby is theres. I dont see how i will ever be able to give him a good life without an education. Most places wont hire you on until your 18 and if you find one that will they will only give you 20 or so because your in school.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: child support
You will be required to pay child support, despite your age and school status. The Court will likely establish support based on your actual earnings or impute income to you at minimum wage. The Courts have some discretion concerning the number of hours to impute to you. The judge assigned to the case will be a big factor in what gross income is imputed to you in order to establish Florida Child Support guidelines. Once you are established as the legal father and granted visitation, your failure to pay support has no effect on your right to visit with your child.
Re: child support
You are in a tough spot. You can't relinquish your duties as a father just because you are in school. You are going to have to find a way to attend school and work at the same time.
Lots of people do it. Fortunately for you, your child support shouldn't be that high because the court will only be able to impute a small amount of income to you.
Don't mean to be tough, but this is the reality of the situation. If you care about your education and your child, nothing should stop you from having both.
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