Merrillville Child Support Laws

Determining child support

The child support laws in Indiana are extremely complicated and outline who should be responsible for child support payments, as well as how much these payments should be. While some information is provided here, your case deserves the utmost care. Contact Robert A. Plantz to discuss your concerns and to receive more specific details about Indiana law.

Once custody is determined, either by the courts or by agreement, the state of Indiana can order one or both parents to pay child support. The court can also decide to set aside funds in trust from one or both parties for the child at any time and is usually calculated by looking into both parents’ financial situations.

There are many factors that are used to decide who should be responsible for making child support payments, such as the following:

• Child’s educational needs
• Financial resources of the custodial parent
• Physical and/or mental condition of the child
• Financial needs and resources of the non-custodial parent
• Standard of living the child is accustomed to

Robert A. Plantz can thoroughly explain the guidelines that are often used in Indiana when deciding who is responsible for child support payments. For additional information, please review our child support modification page.

Calculating payments

In order to determine how much child support should be paid, an extremely detailed account is made of the couple’s finances. The court will scrutinize the weekly gross incomes (before any deductions) of both parents and use this information to build a child support order.

This calculation process happen even when the parents have agreed on a support payment plan. In Indiana, these calculations are extremely specific. They apply to all forms of self-employment, which require proper verification of income and expenses. In order to be sure you are as prepared as possible, our law firm can explain your legal responsibilities for calculating support.

When determining what is a person’s weekly gross income in a Merrillville child support case the court combines credit from almost every source of income possible. To learn more about what is considered a source of income under Indiana state law, contact Robert A. Plantz.

Call 219-945-9784 or use our convenient web contact form to discuss your Merrillville child support concerns.