In Pennsylvania there are generally four types of support that one person can be required to pay to the other person in a family law case. The four types of support are:
- Child support
- Spousal support
- Alimony Pendente Lite (APL)
- Alimony
The parties must be living separate to pursue a child support claim. A child custody case does not have to be filed. If one parent has primary custody, the other parent can be required to pay child support. If the paying parent has 40% or more of the overnights with the children, the paying parent is entitled to a reduction in the amount they must pay. If the parties equally share custody, the parent with more net monthly income will most likely have to pay child support, although it will be reduced because the parties equally share custody. In some very rare cases, a party with primary custody can be required to pay child support to a parent with partial custody. There are statewide guidelines and rules that govern child support.
There are many other rules governing a paying parent’s contribution for medical insurance, unreimbursed medical bills, possible help with the mortgage payment, extraordinary expenses, private school tuition, child-care, and other matters not discussed in this summary. There are also special rules including, but not limited to, rules for multiple families or divided families, rules for very high or very low wage earners, and other rules that have an impact on the support amount under the statewide guidelines and rules.
This short summary on child support is not intended to provide legal advice and you should speak to an attorney about your individual situation. There is much more to filing a claim for child support than can be described in this limited space.
Contact me via email or by telephone to schedule an online or in-person appointment to discuss this claim further.
