Atlanta, GA Child Support Lawyer

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates that it costs more than $233,000 to care for a child from ages 0 to 17. If you are the primary caregiver for your children, you likely expect some monetary contribution from their other parent so that you are both paying the bills that come with parenting.

Unfortunately, some parents do not pay the expenses they owe as contribution to their children’s welfare. As a result, co-parenting with an ex-partner may be a point of significant contention in your life.

Any failure by your ex-spouse to cover their share of childcare expenses may warrant contacting a seasoned family law attorney. A skilled Atlanta, GA child support lawyer can assist you in receiving the funds for these hefty expenditures and bringing a case against an irresponsible parent.

Child Support Laws

Both parents must contribute to their children’s basic needs. A parent’s obligation to support their children financially exists even when the parent does not have a significant relationship with the children. A parent’s dissatisfaction with a parenting time arrangement is not a valid excuse to refuse to pay child support.

Official Code of Georgia Annotated §19-6-15 allows Atlanta courts to make use of standardized guidelines when crafting a child support order. Georgia allocates the financial obligation based on a parent’s contribution to the couple’s combined gross income. A parent who contributes 60 percent of the couple’s combined gross income will be responsible for 60 percent of the funds required to raise the child.

Parents complete a worksheet that considers their monthly gross income and the number of children requiring support. The guidelines will provide a payment amount. The court may also consider other factors, such as whether a parent is responsible for  travel expenses when deciding on an appropriate amount for a child support decree.

Mandatory Deviations

When parents complete the worksheet, they must include the cost of health insurance for the children and work-related childcare costs. The child support obligation is adjusted to recognize these costs.

If the parent who will receive child support is paying for the children’s health insurance through their employer, the co-parent will pay more child support as a contribution to the children’s premiums. When one parent must pay for childcare in order to work, the other parent will contribute to that expense through an adjustment to the child support obligation. Before issuing an order concerning child support, a family judge will review the parents’ worksheets to ensure the adjustments are appropriate. Working with a Georgia lawyer is the best way to ensure all child support responsibilities and deviations are understood and upheld.

Discretionary Adjustments Are Sometimes Appropriate

The child support guidelines work well for most families but not for all. Sometimes, a family’s circumstances require a deviation from the amount the formula provides. When a parent seeks a non-mandatory deviation from the guidelines, they must petition the family court and explain why the deviation is appropriate.

Income Adjustments

When a parent with a below-average income believes the formula amount of child support might cause financial hardship, they can ask the judge to pay less. Starting in 2026, adjustments for low-income will be mandatory.

When parents have a high income, a higher child support payment may be necessary to maintain the children’s lifestyle. The judge has the discretion to require a higher child support payment when a couple’s joint monthly income exceeds $40,000. Child support in the case of a high-income family could include private school tuition, summer camp, travel, extracurricular activities, and similar expenses.

Extraordinary Expenses for a Child’s Special Needs

It can be very expensive to support a child with a physical, emotional, or intellectual disability. Sometimes, a parent must be a full-time caregiver and cannot contribute to the family’s income. Educational and healthcare expenses can be substantial even when the child does not require full-time care.

Children with mental, physical, or intellectual impairments often benefit from specialized services and treatments. A custodial parent can request an upward deviation to the formula child support amount to pay for:

• Home renovations to accommodate a disability 
• Modifications to an existing vehicle or the purchase of a vehicle appropriate for the disabled child’s use
• Specialized medical treatments
• Educational programs to enrich the child’s earning experience 
• Therapies that may provide stimulation or relief but are not covered by health insurance
• Specialized educational or vocational training
• Assistance with personal care tasks

A parent must have documentation that verifies the costs of the goods and services required to care for the child and the necessity of the goods and services, given the child’s condition. 

A parent needing additional support to care for a child with special needs can petition the Georgia family courts for more money than the formula calls for. The judge can adjust the child support obligation to ensure both parents share the financial burden equitably.

Support for Special Needs Can Extend into Adulthood

The child support obligation typically ends when the child graduates from high school or turns 18, whichever event occurs last. The obligation may be extended temporarily while the child is attending school. It may be extended indefinitely if the child has significant special needs.

A parent can petition the court for child support to continue indefinitely when the child’s disability prevents them from living independently or being self-supporting. A parent petitioning for continued child support must present evidence demonstrating the extent of the child’s disability, and its impact on their ability to support themselves. An attorney on our Atlanta family law team can assist a parent in compiling the necessary documentation to prove the need for ongoing child support.

A family court judge considering indefinite child support for a disabled adult child might order the parents to fund a special needs trust. These trusts provide a way to improve the child’s quality of life without endangering their eligibility for public benefits. Parents also should consider guardianship planning to ensure their child has the assistance they need if the parents die or lose the capacity to care for their child.

Parenting Time

The child support guidelines presume one parent cares for the children most of the time. However, many parents share time with their children equally or nearly equally. A deviation from the child support guidelines might be appropriate in these cases.

An Atlanta child support attorney can petition the court to adjust child support based on parenting time. Starting in 2026, parenting time adjustments will become mandatory.

Mortgage Adjustment

Sometimes one parent pays for the residence where the co-parent lives with the child. In those cases, the parent can seek an adjustment to their child support obligation.

How Is Child Support Paid?

Like many states, Georgia has established an apparatus to collect and distribute child support payments. This system allows the state to track payments so a parent can prove whether child support was paid or received. It also reduces the parents’ need for interactions concerning money, which can reduce the potential for conflict.

When the paying parent is an employee, the family court typically issues an order for child support to be deducted automatically from their paycheck. The money goes to the Georgia Family Support Registry, which then deposits the funds in the recipient’s bank account or issues a prepaid debit card.

When the paying parent is unemployed or self-employed, they can make direct payments to the Registry. Payments can be made by credit card online or over the phone, or by cash or check at a Georgia Department of Human Services office.

Enforcing a Child Support Order

Sometimes a parent does not pay child support as ordered. In that case, the receiving parent can ask the Division of Child Support Services (DCSS) to pursue the overdue support, but when working through DCSS, resolution can take a long time. It is often faster to work with an Atlanta, Georgia child support attorney.

The receiving parent can ask the court to enforce the child support order and hold the non-paying parent in contempt. O.C.G.A. §19-6-30 states that outstanding payments may be garnished from the non-paying parent’s wages. If the non-paying parent is unemployed or self-employed, the court could attach their tax refunds and any government benefits they receive, freeze their bank account, and take whatever steps are necessary to bring child support up to date.

Parents should not allow child support disputes to impact other aspects of their co-parenting agreement. For example, sometimes a parent will refuse to make the children available for visitation if the co-parent is behind on child support. Doing so deprives the children of the opportunity to nurture their relationship with their co-parent. Judges take these types of violations very seriously.

Child Support After Established Paternity

A mother may petition the court to have a former partner tested for a paternity link to her children. A man who is found to be the father of a child might have new legal duties placed on him. The Georgia Department of Health’s Division of Child Support Services (DCSS) can bring a paternity action to obtain child support when a mother or her child is receiving public benefits.

According to O.C.G.A. §19-11-14, a court can order a man who is deemed to be the father of a child to pay support for their care. Accordingly, a mother has the right to file a civil action to ensure that the father supports their children financially. A capable attorney in Georgia can assist a mother with pursuing the child support payments she is owed.

Sometimes a man seeks legal acknowledgement that he is a child’s father. Establishing paternity will obligate him to pay child support, but does not automatically confer the right to a relationship with the child. Custody and visitation questions are considered separately and decided according to the child’s best interests.

Modifying a Child Support Order

Family court judges base their child support orders on the information the parents provide at the time. Changes in a parent’s situation or the children’s needs may require a modification of the support order.

Either parent can request a modification of child support. Two years must have passed since the original order was issued or since the last request for a modification.

Negotiating a Modification

Depending on the circumstances, both parents may agree to a modification. In that case, one of our Georgia attorneys can draft a new child support order and submit it to the court for review. The judge will review the modification and issue it as an order if it supports the children’s best interests.

If the judge questions whether the proposed modification is in the best interests of the children, the court may hold a hearing. The judge may question both parents about the need for the modification and whether the proposed order meets the children’s needs.

Substantial Change in Circumstances

When parents do not agree on the need for a change to a child support order, the parent seeking a modification must bring a petition in court. The parent seeking the change  must show that a substantial change in circumstances has occurred. Parents seeking a modification of a child support order less than two years from the date of the current order also must demonstrate a substantial change in circumstances.

Many situations could justify changing a child support order. Some of the more common changes in circumstances that merit a child support modification include:

• Changes in custody
• Job loss
• Parent develops a chronic illness or becomes disabled
• A child develops significant physical or mental health problem
• A child’s unusual skill or talent requires additional support
• Parent experiences a substantial increase in income
• Parent has another child

One of our Georgia child support attorneys could review an Atlanta parent’s situation and advise whether a change could qualify as substantial enough to merit a child support modification.

The parent seeking the change must provide documentation proving the change in circumstances. The judge will consider this evidence, along with any evidence provided by the coparent, and make their decision based on the children’s best interests.

Get in Touch with an Atlanta, GA Child Support Attorney Today

If you are sharing your children with your former partner and need financial contribution from them, it may be necessary to retain qualified legal counsel. An adept Atlanta, Georgia child support lawyer can represent you in court and serve as a resource after legal proceedings.

The process of obtaining a child support order can be overwhelming, especially when the other parent is not being cooperative, but the assistance of qualified legal counsel could make all the difference in the outcome of your case. Schedule an appointment today by calling our intake team so you can get started on your case as soon as possible