While it may take a village to raise a child, in the end, it is the child’s parents who are responsible for financially supporting the child. And, as Leesburg parents know, it takes a significant amount of money to meet a child’s needs. A baby may need diapers and formula, older children may be constantly outgrowing their pants and shoes, there may be soccer games or ballet lessons to pay for, college savings accounts to be funded, and some kids seem to have a hollow leg when it comes to how much they eat. What it comes down to, is that providing a child with a well-rounded childhood means spending a significant amount of money.
When parents are married, they jointly share the responsibility of meeting their child’s needs. However, if they divorce, in general, the noncustodial parent will have to pay child support to the custodial parent. These payments are very important, as they are meant to supplement the costs associated with raising a child. Just because parents are no longer in a relationship with one another does not absolve them of contributing to the child’s financial needs.
It is not just divorced parents that are responsible for child support. Parents who had a child together, but never married and are no longer in a relationship will also have child support obligations. In cases like this, however, it may be necessary to establish paternity before child support can be ordered.
Our law firm understands that child support can be a contentious issue for Virginia parents. Paying parents may be concerned about affording their child support obligations, while receiving parents may be concerned about receiving an adequate amount of support. Moreover, should a paying parent fail to meet their child support obligations and arrears accrue, this could cause problems for both the paying parent and the receiving parent.
Our firm is committed to ensuring that an appropriate child support is obtained for our clients. We are also prepared to secure the testing unmarried parents need to determine paternity. Child support issues can be difficult to work through, but, with help, these issues can be resolved in a way that serves the best interests of the child and the parents.