A common misconception regarding child support in Florida is that the parties can choose their own figure for what one party will pay the other. Actually, child support in Florida is determined through the use of a statutory formula. Fundamentally it involves the number of children involved, and the calculation of each parties’ net income, coupled with the amount of time each parent is going to spend with the children (it can be difficult to calculate the net income of a self employed individual, especially if meaningful, trustworthy financial records aren’t available. Sometimes the only way to prove the income of a party is to show how much they have been spending). It should also be noted that the Florida child support statute lists the items that can be deducted from gross income to arrive at a net income figure. Income tax and social security and health insurance expenses for example can be deducted from the gross. In any event, the total number of overnight visitations is the basis for determining how much time each party spends with the children. On a theoretical basis, if each party spends 50% of the time with the children, and they each earn the same amount of net income, there will not be any child support owed (although if one party pays for the kids’ health insurance and daycare for example, the other party would owe child support).
