Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Support

Calculating child support in Florida requires analysis of more than just the parent’s incomes. The court must also consider what statutory deductions are due to each parent, how much is paid for daycare, and how much is paid for health insurance for the children. In Johnson v. Johnson, 4D20-504 (Fla. 4th DCA March 24, 2021), the former wife appealed, among other matters, the trial court’s calculation of child support and the court’s designation of which parent’s address would control when choosing a school for their child.

The parties resided in Palm Beach County, Florida at the time a petition for divorce was filed. The former husband later moved to St. Lucie County and the former wife moved to Broward County while the case was still pending. A temporary child support order was entered obligating the former husband to pay child support and the child’s daycare expenses. When the child was moved to Broward County, the former husband stopped paying for the daycare for which he was receiving credit in the child support guidelines. At trial, the former wife testified that she moved to Broward County because the marital home was in foreclosure and she could not afford the same. The trial court eventually entered a final judgment of divorce which found it was in the child’s best interest to move back to Palm Beach County. Two different parenting plans were proposed in the final judgment based on whether the mother moved back to Palm Beach County or she remained in Broward County. If the mother chose to move back to Palm Beach County, she could be the primary residential parent, while if she chose to stay in Broward, she would get visits every other weekend. The court ordered that for school boundary determination, the father’s address would be designated. The former wife appealed.

First, with regard to the school boundary determination, the appellate court ruled “The trial court, however, should have provided a contingent designation in the event that Former Wife opted to move back to Palm Beach County as the final judgment provided for, or simply stated that school designation will be based on where the child primarily resides. As Former Wife argues, school boards set policies as to where a child attends school based on residential address. [. . .] On remand, the trial court should modify the final judgment so that the parents do not violate school board policies.”

As to the child support calculation, the appellate court found it was error for the trial court to credit the father for child support paid for other children from another relationship where there was no evidence presented that the father was actually paying the support. Additionally, the trial court incorrectly gave credit to the father in the guidelines for union dues and health insurance in contradiction to the financial affidavit he presented at trial. Last, the court ruled it was error not to give the former wife credit for daycare expenses she paid for the child once the father stopped paying for daycare during the period of temporary support.

Calculating child support in Florida requires more than just putting numbers into a calculator. It requires analysis of many factors in order to arrive at the fairest number possible.