No wonder South Florida has become a place concentrated with world’s wealthiest people considering the year-round summer, breathtaking nearby beaches and lack of state income tax. But with all its beauty comes the law of the land and that law includes an obligation for single parents not residing together and divorcing parents to pay child support.

Florida Statute 61.30 includes a schedule that establishes a rebuttable amount a court must order as child support based on the parties’ combined monthly net income (guidelines). The higher the parties’ combined monthly net income, the more support the child is entitled to pursuant to these guidelines. The maximum combined monthly net income of the parents contemplated in the guidelines is $10,000, however the court must add to the support obligation based on a percentage of any monthly net income over $10,000 and the number of children involved. This additional support is premised on the rule that, generally, a child is entitled to share in the good fortune of his/her parent consistent with an appropriate lifestyle. Once the court determines the total monthly support the child is entitled to, the court must then determine each parent’s percentage share of the child support by dividing each parent’s monthly net income by the combined monthly net income. Where one parent earns disproportionately more than the other, even where the parents have equal timesharing, the high earner will likely pay more in support.