Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Support

Florida child support is calculated under guidelines using both parents’ net incomes (after taxes and certain statutory deductions) and include expenses such as daycare and health insurance premiums. These guidelines must be included with a final judgment, or an order for child support may be reversed on appeal. This was an issue in the case Dorvilien v. Verty, 4D21-1772 (Fla. 4th DCA March 23, 2022).

In what appears to be a paternity case, the trial court decided child support and parental responsibility. The mother appealed, arguing (1) the trial court miscalculated the child support amount and (2) no child support guidelines worksheet was attached to the court’s final order. The appellate court noted that the miscalculation of child support did was not significantly erroneous: “[T]he trial court made appropriate findings on the record and properly considered the parties’ monthly incomes to calculate those support payments. [internal citation omitted]. Even if the trial court made a minor error in its calculations, it would not have significantly altered the final child support awards. See Wilkerson v. Wilkerson, 717 So. 2d 1118, 1119 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998) (affirming child support obligation that exceeded support guidelines by a ‘negligible amount . . . does not warrant remand for justification, recalculation or other proceedings’).”

The appellate court, however, remanded for the court to attach the guidelines worksheet, holding “Florida courts, however, have held the failure to attach a child support guidelines worksheet to a final order is a reversible error. [internal citation omitted]. Here, [. . .] the trial court did not attach the guidelines worksheet to the order, and this failure requires remand to attach the worksheet. This must occur even if the trial court intended to attach the worksheet to the adopted parenting plan, and despite the trial court’s reference to the worksheet in the final order.”

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