Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Support

Sometimes, even though a parenting plan says one parent has majority time-sharing and the other parent will pay child support, circumstances change, and the parent ordered to pay support may have full custody of the children because, for example, the other parent voluntarily leaves the children with the the parent or other circumstances arise. This was the case in Carmack v. Carmack, 5D20-297 (Fla. 5th DCA April 9, 2021).

In their final judgment of divorce, the former husband was ordered to pay child support to the former wife. A dependency action was subsequently opened and the former husband was given 100% custody of the children. At that point, the former husband successfully moved to abate his child support obligation. Once the dependency proceeding ended, the former wife resumed her timesharing. By that time, the former husband had full custody of the children for about 10 months. After the former wife resumed her timesharing, the former husband filed a motion for temporary child support for the period of time the children were with him. The trial court awarded the former husband retroactive child support for the period of time the children were with him during the dependency action. The former wife appealed.

The appellate court reversed the ruling, holding “While trial courts are afforded broad discretion when determining child support, that discretion is cabined by the applicable statutory scheme. And here, while section 61.14, Florida Statutes (2020), permits trial courts to award retroactive child support ‘as equity requires,’ the statute also makes clear that a retroactive child support obligation may not be imposed prior to the date the petition seeking modification was filed. Accordingly, regardless of the equities presented, the trial court was without authority to impose a retroactive child support obligation on Former Wife dating back to March 2019. And although there is competent substantial evidence supporting a modification, the motion seeking temporary support sought modification of child support only for time periods pre-dating the petition. As a result, we hold the trial court abused its discretion in granting the requested relief and reverse the award granting temporary child support in full." (internal citations omitted).

A parent who suddenly assumes full custody of children should act quickly to address child support issues. Schedule a consultation with a Miami child support lawyer to go over your options.