Bend Child Support Lawyer

What Does Child Support Cover in Oregon?

Child support is payment that one parent is required to pay to the other during and / or after a divorce. The purpose is to supplement provisions for the child’s:

• Care
• Overall support
• Welfare
• Education

Obligations to pay child support come from a judgment, court order, or through the Oregon Division of Child Support. Child support is established through the use of Oregon’s Uniform Child Support Guidelines. This is usually needed between unmarried parents or parents in a dissolution of marriage proceeding.

Contact our Bend child support attorney from Baxter Law, LLC today at (541) 238-9210 to discuss your case!

How Long Does Child Support Last in Oregon?

An individual’s obligation to pay will continue until the child turns 18. In some cases, support may continue until the child’s 21^st birthday if he or she is attending school as defined by the state.

Determining a Child Support Order in Oregon

In order to calculate child support needed, a party will need to use Oregon’s Uniform Child Support Guidelines. This is a formula that takes into account all of the following:

• Both parties’ respective incomes
• The parenting plan
• Any child care costs
• Medical insurance costs
• Uninsured ongoing medical expenses

Calculating income for child support is often straightforward, but it can also be complicated if there are additional factors involved, such as self-employment. Once all information is inputted, the formula will determine the assumed appropriate amount for child support. This amount is typically followed unless other findings are made that prove that amount is not appropriate for the facts of the case.

How to Calculate Your Child Support Payments

You’ll need to gather the following information about the parents in order to calculate your child support payments:

• Both parents’ names
• The relationship between the parents
• If the child resides with a caretaker, his or her name
• If the child resides in state care, which state

Collect the following information about the parents’ income:

• Each parent’s gross monthly income
• The amount of spousal support owed to each parent by anyone
• The amount of spousal support each parent owes to anyone
• Each parent’s union dues

Get the following information together regarding the children:

• The joint minor children’s first names
• The average number of yearly overnights the minor children are with each parent
• The child care costs paid by the parent or caretaker for the joint minor children
• The amount of a disabled or retired parent’s Social Security or veterans’ benefit paid to a child
• The number of non-joint children for each parent

Gather the following information with respect to health care coverage:

• The cost the parent pays for their own health care coverage
• Whether the parent has health care coverage available for the joint children
• The parent’s out-of-pocket expenses to enroll the joint children

Contact our Bend child support lawyers today if you need information on child support in Oregon!

Oregon Child Support Guidelines Calculator

If you’d like to calculate the child support payments you expect to receive, a good way to do so is through the use of the Oregon Department of Justice’s Child Support Guidelines Calculator. Just be sure to obtain the aforementioned information before attempting to use the

Understanding Cash Medical Support in Oregon

Under the Oregon Child Support Guidelines, an additional obligation may be required within a child support determination, which is the “cash medical support.” This is an additional amount that a parent can request to cover the amount of health care needed for the child and help with the uninsured medical expenses related to the child.

Rebuttal Factors that May Arise

It may not be a smooth road when seeking the recovery of child support. The other party may challenge the requested amount of child support. These are called, “rebuttal factors” and are set forth in the Oregon Child Support Guidelines. Some of the factors include:

• Other available resources of a parent
• Reasonable necessities of a parent
• Net income of a parent
• Parent’s ability to borrow money
• Number and needs of other dependents of the parent
• Desirability of the custodial parent
• Application of tax issues
• Financial advantage afforded a parent by living with a partner

In many cases, the judge can deviate from the presumed amount of child support.