When parents separate, the welfare of their children is often a primary concern. Custody and support issues can be contentious, and Virginia has careful guidelines for calculating child support payments that a noncustodial parent must pay. However, it is not uncommon...
Child Support
Why modify a child support order?
Children always need to be supported, and this also means financially. Even when Virginia parents divorce, they need to ensure their children’s basic needs are being met, and a child support order is put into place to see to that. However, the order that was issued...
What happens when child support isn’t paid?
Divorced parents have the responsibility of taking care of their children, no matter what kind of relationship they have between them. In Virginia, responsibility doesn’t end just because the marriage did, and part of ensuring children have everything they need is...
How is child support affected by bankruptcy?
No matter what happens with their own relationships, parents must ensure that the needs of their children always come first. In Virginia, and everywhere in the country, when parents divorce, one parent will likely be making child support payments as per a court order....
How can parents spend child support money?
After a divorce or breakup, parents will have many decisions to make about how to cooperate in the raising of their children. Some parents can address many of these decisions on their own, but others are too risky to resolve without the backing of the court. Child...
Handling child support with a fluctuating income
Children always come first even when their parents decide to divorce. Given that, one parent is usually responsible for paying child support and it’s usually the parent who is the higher income earner. If each parent has a career with a steady income, child support...
Former spouses can’t dictate how child support is spent
Some former spouses find themselves financially strapped. In Virginia, a divorced parent who pays child support might want to dictate how the other parent should spend that money, believing that paying that support gives him or her the right to say how it’s used....
How will filing for bankruptcy affect child support?
Children have to be taken care of even when their parents are no longer together. Both parents are obligated to provide for their children financially, but one parent usually makes child support payments to the other as ordered by the court. But what happens when the...
The role of Virginia’s DCSE regarding child support
The Division of Child Support Enforcement (DCSE) in Virginia plays a pivotal role in child support payments. The majority of child support cases in the state are commenced with an application for child support being completed and submitted to a local branch of the...
Why is child support important?
Raising a child is expensive. In addition to the basic expenses such as food, clothing and shelter, there are numerous other expenses that need to be considered. The state of Virginia recognizes that in most circumstances child support is critical, and both parents...