Sterling Heights Child Support Lawyers

In Michigan, statutory guidelines and a formula are applied when determining how much monthly child support a parent must pay. The basic factors that impact child support payment determinations include the number of children, the parents' income levels, and the necessary living expenses for each child. Additionally, it is important to keep in mind that a spouse who is voluntarily underemployed or unemployed may not be relieved of their duty to contribute to support.

At Corrado Law Group, P.C., our child support lawyers in Sterling Heights understand the importance of obtaining a fair child support payment for you and your family. Additionally, we will work tirelessly in the event you need to obtain or defend against a child support modification.

The amount of child support is calculated using the Michigan Child Support Formula. This formula considers the following factors:

Call (586) 554-2200 to schedule an appointment with our child support lawyers in Sterling Heights!

Can Parents Modify Child Support Payments?

There may be situations where one parent would like to modify their child support obligation. This might occur if a child has special needs, expensive educational expenses, or other extraordinary factors the court deems fit.

The situations listed above have been approved by the Michigan Child Support Formula. However, the court can deviate from the child support formula for a good cause, as it sees fit.

A parent can only request to have their child support obligation reviewed once every 3 years. However, if there has been a significant change, a parent may be able to get the Fried of the Court (FOC) to do a review.

How to Pay Child Support

The Michigan State Disbursement Unit (MiSDU) and the Friend of the Court (FOC) work together to collect and distribute child support payments. In most cases, child support payments are automatically withheld from the payer’s wages and MiSDU forwards them to the payee. Both the payer and the payee get a copy of the income withholding order when support is paid this way.

Sometimes income withholding is not possible because the payer is self-employed (or for other reasons). In those cases, the payer must make payments directly to MiSDU. Sometimes both parties agree to an alternative payment arrangement. If payments are not made through MiSDU, the payee must let the FOC know they received payments for the payer to get credit.