Family law
Florida child support attorney
A guideline calculation, and the two numbers that decide most arguments
Florida child support runs on guidelines rather than discretion. Fla. Stat. § 61.30 produces a figure from the parents’ combined net income and the number of children, and a court must have a written reason to depart from it. Two numbers inside the statute decide most disputes. The first is 20 percent: a parent who exercises time-sharing at least 20 percent of the overnights of the year is exercising a "substantial amount of time", which changes how the calculation is done. The second is 15 percent or $50: a guideline figure only establishes a substantial change in circumstances for modification if it differs from the existing obligation by at least 15 percent or $50, whichever is greater.
01 Quick answers
- How is Florida child support calculated?
- By guideline under § 61.30, from the parents’ combined net income and the number of children, with adjustments. It is a calculation, and departing from it requires a written finding.
- What is the 20 percent overnight rule?
- Section 61.30 defines a "substantial amount of time" as exercising time-sharing at least 20 percent of the overnights of the year. Crossing that line changes how support is calculated.
- When can support be modified?
- The guideline figure supports a substantial change only if it differs from the existing monthly obligation by at least 15 percent or $50, whichever is greater.
- What if a parent does not use their time?
- Failing to regularly exercise the schedule, where it caused a support adjustment and was not caused by the other parent, is deemed a substantial change — and modification is retroactive to when they first stopped.
- Does health insurance factor in?
- Yes. It is presumed reasonable in cost if adding the child costs no more than 5 percent of the responsible parent’s gross income, and it has to be accessible in the right county.
- Can we just agree on a number?
- You can propose one, but the court reviews it against the guidelines. An agreed figure that departs from them needs a reason the court will accept.
02 The calculation
Support is a guideline figure, not a negotiation
This surprises people who expect a fight about what a child costs.
Section 61.30 sets a guideline schedule driven by the parents’ combined net income and the number of children, then allocates the resulting obligation between the parents. A court may deviate, but a deviation needs a written finding explaining it.
Which moves the real argument upstream, into income. What counts as income, whether a parent is voluntarily underemployed, how overtime and bonuses are treated, what a self-employed parent’s net actually is — those are the contested questions, and they are evidentiary rather than rhetorical.
Health insurance has its own rule. The cost of adding the child is presumed reasonable if it does not exceed 5 percent of the gross income of the parent responsible for providing it, and the insurance must be accessible — usable in the county of the child’s primary residence, or in another county if the parent with the most time agrees. Where the plan is equal time-sharing, it is accessible if usable in either county where the child resides.
The guideline sets the number. The argument is about what goes into it.
03 Twenty percent
The overnight threshold that changes the number
If there is one figure to know in Florida child support, it is this one.
Section 61.30 defines, for purposes of adjusting support, that a "substantial amount of time" means a parent exercises time-sharing at least 20 percent of the overnights of the year.
Below that line there is a different adjustment. The statute separately contemplates a reduction where a child spends a significant amount of time, but less than 20 percent of the overnights, with one parent, thereby reducing the financial expenditures incurred by the other.
So a schedule drafted at 19 percent and one drafted at 21 percent produce different support, and parents negotiating a calendar are negotiating money whether they realize it or not. It is one of the clearest places where the parenting plan and the support figure are the same conversation.
Twenty percent of the overnights of the year. Above it and below it are different calculations.
04 Changing it
The 15 percent rule, and the one that works retroactively
Support is modifiable, but not on a small difference.
The guidelines may provide the basis for proving a substantial change in circumstances — however, the difference between the existing monthly obligation and the guideline amount must be at least 15 percent or $50, whichever is greater, before a court may find that the guidelines provide one.
There is a separate and lower threshold for department reviews. For a support order reviewed by the department, a difference of at least 10 percent but not less than $25 prompts it to seek a modification.
And one provision parents on both sides should know. Where a parent fails to regularly exercise the time-sharing schedule, not caused by the other parent, and that failure resulted in a support adjustment, the statute deems it a substantial change of circumstances — and a modification on that basis is retroactive to the date the parent first failed to regularly exercise the schedule.
That is unusually sharp. A parent who obtained a reduction for crossing the 20 percent line and then did not use the time can face a modification reaching back to when the pattern started, rather than to the date someone filed.
05 The statutes
- Fla. Stat. § 61.30 Child support guidelines The guideline schedule, the 20 percent overnight threshold, and the 15 percent modification rule.
- Fla. Stat. § 61.13 Time-sharing The schedule that feeds the overnight count.
- Fla. Stat. § 61.14 Modification The general modification provision support runs through.
Child support questions, answered
How does Florida calculate child support?
By guideline. Section 61.30 drives a figure from the parents’ combined net income and the number of children, then allocates it between them.
A court can deviate, but it needs a written finding explaining why. So the number is rarely argued directly.
What is argued is the input: what counts as income, whether a parent is voluntarily underemployed, how bonuses and overtime are treated, and what a self-employed parent’s net income actually is.
What is the 20 percent overnight threshold?
Section 61.30 defines a "substantial amount of time", for purposes of adjusting support, as a parent exercising time-sharing at least 20 percent of the overnights of the year.
Crossing that line changes how the calculation is done. Below it, the statute contemplates a different adjustment where a child spends significant time but less than 20 percent of the overnights with one parent, reducing the other parent’s expenditures.
Practically, this means a parenting schedule is also a financial document. Negotiating a calendar at 19 or at 21 percent is negotiating support.
When can child support be changed?
The guidelines may provide the basis for a substantial change in circumstances, but only where the difference between the existing monthly obligation and the guideline amount is at least 15 percent or $50, whichever is greater.
A smaller difference will not do it, which is why a modification is worth calculating before it is filed.
For orders reviewed by the department, a lower threshold applies — a difference of at least 10 percent but not less than $25.
What if the other parent never takes their time?
The statute addresses this directly, and the remedy reaches backward.
A parent’s failure to regularly exercise the time-sharing schedule, not caused by the other parent, where that failure resulted in an adjustment of support, is deemed a substantial change of circumstances.
A modification on that basis is retroactive to the date the parent first failed to regularly exercise the court-ordered or agreed schedule — not to the date of filing.
How is health insurance handled?
It is part of the support calculation rather than separate from it.
The cost is presumed reasonable if the incremental cost of adding the child does not exceed 5 percent of the gross income of the parent responsible for providing it, and that presumption can be rebutted.
The insurance also has to be accessible: usable in the county of the child’s primary residence, or another county if the parent with the most time agrees. Under an equal time-sharing plan, it is accessible if usable in either county where the child resides.
How are fees handled in a family case?
Consultations and attorney’s fees are billed hourly. Court costs and case expenses are billed separately, and payment plans are available.
There is no contingency fee in family work and no free consultation — those are injury terms and they do not apply here.
Consultations and attorney’s fees are billed hourly. Court costs and case expenses are billed separately. Payment plans are available.
06 Keep reading
Talk to Jose A. Dapena about your child support matter
You speak with the attorney who would handle the case, not an intake department. Practicing in Florida since 1998, Florida Bar number 152358.
Consultations and attorney’s fees are billed hourly. Court costs and case expenses are billed separately. Payment plans are available.