Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Support

Florida child support arrears accrue when a parent who is ordered to pay child support fails to pay as ordered. Retroactive child support in contrast, is support that is determined to be owed during a period of time when a parent was not ordered to pay child support, but is nonetheless required to pay because the parents were separated during the period of non-payment. The case Lockwood v. Lockwood, 2D19-1254 (Fla. 2d DCA December 16, 2020) examines how far back a court can go in determining a parent’s arrearages when a temporary support order is entered.

As part of the parties divorce, the former husband was ordered to pay child support to the former wife. The petition for divorce was filed in July 2015, and a temporary child support order was entered in August 2016. The temporary order granted prospective child support and retroactive child support dating back to February 2016. In the final judgment of dissolution, the court modified the former husband’s back payments owed to January 2015, the date of the parties’ separation and before the filing of the petition for dissolution. The former husband appealed.

The appellate court ruled, and the former wife conceded, that it was error for the trial court to modify the back payments owed to the date of separation. As noted by the appellate court: “Section 61.14, Florida Statutes (2018), provides the date options to which the modification of a temporary support order may be made retroactive. § 61.14(11)(b) (‘The modification of the temporary support order may be retroactive to the date of the initial entry of the temporary support order; to the date of filing of the initial petition for dissolution of marriage, initial petition for support, initial petition determining paternity, or supplemental petition for modification; or to a date prescribed in paragraph (1)(a) or s. 61.30(11)(c) or (17), as applicable.’).” Since the separation date was prior to the date of filing the petition for divorce and did not fit any of the enumerated dates listed in the statute, the appellate court reversed.

Calculating child support in Florida requires careful examination of the factors in each case. Schedule a consultation with a Miami child support lawyer to have the Florida child support guidelines calculated for you.