What is child support? Think you know?

            Many people, oftentimes listening to other people equally uninformed, have significant misunderstandings about child support.  I hope to be able to clarify a couple of those.

            The first issue involves what is a "standard" child support amount.  By now, most people realize that there is a formula for what we call "guideline" child support.  Although this is not perfectly accurate, the amount is generally calculated by determining the amount of income minus taxes and minus the amount that the obligor (payor) pays for health insurance for the child.  That number is then multiplied by 20 percent in the case of one child, with increasing amounts for multiple children.  But this is not all that the obligor pays.  Child support also includes the health insurance on the child.  The court will also order, as additional child support, both parties to pay half of the uninsured medical expenses on the child.  In addition, sometimes other child related expenses are ordered such as educational expenses.  Many people don't include health insurance and uninsured medical expenses or other expenses when calculating their child support obligation.

            The second misconception is that the above-described guideline will always be used.  Although most judges rely on the guideline in the vast majority of cases, it is not the sole determinant of child support.  The Texas Family Code lists 17 criteria that the court can use to deviate from the guideline child support.  The court, if the case is properly presented, can provide for the actual needs of the child subject to many criteria such as the available funds, educational expenses, and other things.  The last criteria is that the court can consider "any other reason consistent with the best interest of the child, taking into consideration the circumstances of the parents."  That is so broad as to give the court wide-ranging discretion.  In reality, courts rarely vary from the guidelines and they have become more or less standard across the board, so it is incumbent on the attorney to properly present the case to the court.

            Whether you are seeking or paying child support, you need an attorney who can persuasively argue your position to the court.  The attorneys at the Bob Leonard Law Group, PLLC would be happy to discuss your particular problem with you.  If you would like to do so, please call us at 817‑336‑8500.

What is your name? When were you born? Really?

            I had an interesting conversation with a friend last week.  The friend’s mother had died last year and, as the only child, my friend was charged with handling mother’s estate.  My friend’s mother was 93 years old and six years younger than her husband.  The importance of that last bit of information will become apparent soon.

            When handling the estate of a deceased person, you have to deal with all sorts of folks.  You may have to deal with Social Security, banks, stock brokerage houses, and those involved in the sale or purchase of real estate or businesses.  How easy that is will depend upon, partly, the extent to which the deceased person organized his or her affairs.

            The first problem that my friend encountered was that her mother had used quite a few different names over the years.  Sometimes she used her married name and sometimes she used her maiden name.  Sometimes she used her given name and sometimes she used a nickname.  In at least one case, the mother had used a name that she apparently just invented for the purpose, probably because it went well with her given name.  In all, my friend was able to find nine official documents to use to prove her mother’s death.  Unfortunately the mother’s name was never the same in more than two of them.  My friend found it very difficult even to prove her mother’s death to Social Security since they required three matching documents. 

            As problematic as the name situation was, my friend’s mother’s birth dates were possibly even more so.  Although she was born in 1918, she had listed her date of birth on various governmental documents as anywhere from 1918 to 1924.  It appears that she is trying to “move” her age to be the same as her husband, who, as I said earlier, was six years her junior.  Since many government agencies use a birth date to confirm a persons’ identity, this created as many problems as the multiple names.

            This does not even consider that it is a crime, frequently a felony, to give improper information to a governmental agency.  Let’s assume, just as an example, that someone with this number of names and this number of birth dates was suspected in a crime that they did not commit.  In the process of the investigation that will ultimately clear them of the crime, both the police and the prosecutors will become aware of the multiple “aliases” and birth dates.  Since giving incorrect information to a governmental agency is often a felony, the person who did not commit the first crime could possibly be charged with several other crimes which carry long prison sentences. 

            Are your governmental records consistent?  Most people, myself included, might enter a name that is your given name in some documents and a nickname in others.  Although "Robert" is my given name, I frequently use "Bob" in documents that I fill out.  That is understandable and almost anyone will quickly see that "Bob" is a traditional nickname for "Robert" and therefore it should present no problem.  If, however, I were to somehow inexplicably use "James," that would certainly raise eyebrows.  If I use more than one birth date, that would create even bigger issues. 

            Now would be a good time to look at how you are listed in various government documents and, if there is a problem, do what it takes to resolve it. Bob Leonard Law Group, PLLC