Fort Worth Child Support Lawyers

At Sisemore, Childress & Associates, PLLC, we provide clients throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area with outstanding legal representation in child support cases. Recently divorced parents are often financially vulnerable, as returning to full-time employment may be difficult or entirely unfeasible along with caring for their children. Our Fort Worth child support attorneys can help—pursuing the other spouse in court for an order mandating their child support payments.

The Texas Family Code outlines strict requirements for the granting of child support. Parents are legally required to support their children until they reach the age of 18 or until they graduate from high school, and sometimes longer, as in cases where a child is disabled. Child support can be paid by different means, or in combination, including the following:

• Periodically
• Lump sum payment
• Funded through annuity purchase
• Funded through administration of property

Child support in Fort Worth and throughout Texas is typically the responsibility of the parent who does not have primary or sole custody of the child.

In determining child support payments, a court will compute the net monthly income and look at the net resources of the responsible parent. At the forefront of any court's consideration is what decision is in the best interests of the child. Additional factors include:

• Age and needs of the child
• Ability of each parent to contribute
• Financial resources available for the child's support
• Amount of time of possession of and access to the child
• Child care expenses incurred by either party
• Whether either party has primary or sole custody
• Any spousal support already being paid
• Higher education expenses
• Benefits received by the custodial parent from an employer or other business
• Travel costs for the non-custodial parent for visitation or other access to the child
• Positive or negative cash flow from either parent's personal property assets
• Debts assumed by either parent

Child support can be obtained retroactively, in the event the responsible parent was not previously ordered or a party to the original support order. Our attorneys can also pursue situations when support payments are still required, even after the death of the responsible parent. If you were never married to the father of your child, our Forth Worth child support lawyers can assist with a paternity action to establish legal responsibility for payment of child support.

Dedicated legal advocates

If you are seeking or owed child support and need an experienced Fort Worth child support lawyers, contact Sisemore, Childress & Associates, PLLC today for a free initial consultation.