Although governed by presumed statutory guidelines, child support is one of the most litigated issues faced by family law attorneys, whether it involves children under the age of majority or postmajority children who are disabled.
In the 1980s federal legislation was passed to address the concern that the amount of support being ordered in many cases was too low. The law mandated that all states use child support guidelines that “take into consideration all earnings and income of the absent parent, be based on specific descriptive and numeric criteria and result in a computation of the support obligation.” The amount so calculated was to be automatically presumed and any deviation would have to be supported by specific findings based on criteria specified in state law. The criteria also had to take into consideration the best interest of the child.
