If you are splitting up and there are children involved, you will likely be getting a parenting plan. And part of any parenting plan is child support.

There are a couple of ways to do child support:

1) You can agree on an amount – if you and your ex agree on how much the child support obligation should be, you can put that into the parenting plan. It is helpful to be as specific as possible about the terms (frequency, date, payment method, etc.).

2) You can have the amount calculated and enforced by Child Support Services Division (CSSD) – CSSD will take all of your financial information, and all of your ex’s financial information and do a calculation of support. Then, typically, this amount is withheld from the obligor’s pay.

If either of your financial situations change significantly, you can ask for the child support amount to be recalculated. If you leave your parenting plan up to the Court, the Court will likely want to run it through CSSD.

I highly recommend keeping track of payments made/received if you are not running your child support payments through CSSD. Also, it is tremendously helpful to talk to a lawyer about the intricacies of child support. It is a complicated system, and too often people get roped into an untenable child support situation. Kalispell Divorce Attorney Child custody attorney Kalispell Top family lawyer Kalispell