Legal Question in Family Law in Texas
My wifes ex-husband is now asking for child support for their 17 year old son. They agreed to let him stay with his dad and she paid healtcare and bought clothes and what he needed. There was not a court order just an agreement between them. She has 2 other kids at home from her another marriage after him. She is now married to me and he now states he wants child support even though their son is working and never even comes to see his mother. Does he have the ability to go after retroactive child support? Do they consider his age and that he is working when figuring current child support?
1 Answer from Attorneys
If the child is living with the father, then, under the law, the father is entitled to child support until the child turns 18 or graduates from high school (whichever is later).
Child support is based on the mother's net resources such as her salary and any other income she receives. It is NOT based on your income.
It is also based on the number of other children she is supporting. If she has a total of 3 children under the age of 18, then guideline child support would be 16% of her net monthly resources. She would also be ordered to pay for health insurance for the child.
The child support can be retroactive to the time that she was served with a lawsuit asking for child support. It cannot be retroactive to when the son went to live with his father.
The less time she sees the son, the more likely the father is to get child support.
If she doesn't want to pay child support, she should make the son come back to live with her as per her final decree of divorce. As long as the son has not been living with the father for more than 6 months, that's all she has to do: Tell the boy to come home.
Good luck!!
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