Each parent is required to provide financial support for children. The person paying support is known as the obligor or sometimes as the non-custodial parent or NCP.  The person receiving support is the obligee or sometimes the custodial parent or CP.

Child support will be ordered in any case where a child of the marriage is under the age of 18, or if age 18, still enrolled in high school and not otherwise emancipated.

Support and visitation issues are separate. This means that  even if a parent does not visit the child that parent will still be obligated to pay child support in most circumstances.

Child Support Guidelines

Texas child support is determined by a formula. With very little variance, these guidelines are applied in almost every case.

How is child support calculated? 

The child support guidelines require the calculation of the obligor's net resources. Net resources is defined by Texas child support rules as gross  income from all sources (wages, rental income, etc) from which the following amounts are subtracted:  federal income taxes for a single person with one exemption,  union dues, Social Security taxes and medicare taxes, and health insurances costs for children only. 

Once this number is calculated, it is multiplied by a percentage:

1 child 20%

2 children 25%

3 children 30%

4 children 35%

5 or more children 40%

These percentages apply when all of the children have both the same mother and same father. If an obligor has mutliple children with multiple partners, then the percentage used to calculate support is adjusted.

There are other reasons that a court might reduce or increase support. For example, a disabled child might need more than the guidelines amount of support. An obligee who requests more than guidelines child support will be required to prove the child's needs beyond the amount of guidelines child support.

Texas child support laws also require an obligor's employer to withhold payments for child support directly from the obligor's paycheck. This is the easiest and most efficient was for an obligor to pay and an obligee to receive child support.

When does child support terminate?

Once an obligor is ordered to pay  child support, the child support continues to be paid until:

            1.         the child reaches the age of eighteen years or graduates from high school, whichever occurs later, subject to the provisions for support beyond the age of eighteen years set out below;

            2.         the child marries;

            3.         the child dies;

            4.         the child enlists in the armed forces of the United States and begins active service as defined by section 101 of title 10 of the United States Code; or

            5.         the child's disabilities are otherwise removed for general purposes; or

            If the child is eighteen years of age and has not graduated from high school, child support shall continue for as long as the child is enrolled-

            1.         under chapter 25 of the Texas Education Code in an accredited secondary school in a program leading toward a high school diploma or in courses for joint high school and junior college credit and is complying with the minimum attendance requirements under Texas law; or

            2.         on a full-time basis in a private secondary school in a program leading toward a high school diploma and is complying with the minimum attendance requirements imposed by that school.

What happens when an obligor does not pay child support?

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