Maryland Child Support Attorney

How to Receive or Modify Child Support in Maryland

When married couples in Maryland decide to divorce, and there are children involved, the issue of child support becomes a crucial and complicated aspect that must be addressed. In Maryland, determining financial responsibilities will depend on the custody arrangement of the children. Maryland’s legal system employs specific formulas that consider each parent’s income to decide the amount each party owes following the separation.

Ultimately, a family law judge will set or endorse the obligations related to child support and custody and the allocation of parenting time. Typically, the parent granted primary physical custody is entitled to receive support from the other parent who does not maintain primary custody. Nevertheless, complexities arise in situations like shared custody, where the income and expenses of each parent also play a critical role.

If you’re in Maryland and are either going through a divorce with children or seeking to adjust a current child support agreement, contact the Law Offices of Sandra Guzman Salvado for legal assistance. Our firm has decades of combined legal experience in family law and child support cases.

Child Support Guidelines Following Maryland’s Divorce Law Changes

Despite alterations to Maryland’s divorce laws in October 2023, the state’s approach to calculating child support remained unchanged. The modifications mainly concerned the elimination of “limited divorce,” a form of legal separation, replacing it with mutual consent divorces that involve drafting a marital settlement agreement. Other divorce pathways include a six-month separation before filing for absolute divorce or citing irreconcilable differences.

For cases initiated on or after October 1, 2020, the definition of “shared physical custody” changed slightly. In these instances, a parent having overnight custody of the child or children for more than 25% of the year meets this criterion. Additionally, for cases where overnight custody ranges between 25% and 30% of the year, specific formulas based on this percentage are used to calculate support.

Maryland’s Child Support Administration Calculator

Maryland’s Child Support Administration (CSA) offers an online tool to estimate potential child support amounts based on prevailing guidelines, accessible through the CSA’s online child support calculator. However, it’s important to note that numerous factors can influence the actual child support amount, and this calculator doesn’t account for possible variations and adjustments that a court might permit. For questions about your legal rights and responsibilities, it’s important that you consult with one of our attorneys.

Amending or Ending Child Support Agreements

Changes in child support agreements can be sought if there’s a significant and ongoing alteration in circumstances, like a change in income or custody arrangements. However, if a parent deliberately reduces their work efforts to evade child support, the court may deem this as “voluntary impoverishment” and calculate support based on an “imputed income.”

It’s important to note that, in Maryland, child support obligations typically cease when the child turns 18, though they may extend until the 19th birthday if the child is still completing high school.

Call Our Maryland Child Support Lawyers For Help Today

Our Maryland child support attorneys at the Law Offices of Sandra Guzman Salvado, provide exceptional legal representation and serves clients in Montgomery, Frederick, Prince George’s, Anne Arundel and Howard counties. We also have local offices in Bethesda, Frederick, Greenbelt, and Rockville, Maryland to better serve you. If you have a child support matter, contact our Maryland family law attorneys at the Law Offices of Sandra Guzman Salvado at (301) 340-1911.