Child Support
The Maryland legislature has just passed new child support guidelines. They apply to most Maryland parents who are separated or divorced, unless the combined adjusted annual income of the parents is above $15,000.00 a month. They generally do apply to most child support modification actions (unless the only reason a parent is asking for an increase in child support is because the new law allows them to get more support). The child support guidelines take into account whether or not alimony is being paid and/or received, whether a parent is paying child support for another child under a court order, amounts paid for child care or tuition, the cost of health insurance premiums and extraordinary medical expenses.
When we represent parents in cases where the issues include child custody and visitation, child support is always part of our services. Also, if a person needs help representing him- or herself in a child support case, we are happy to help with our DIY Legal Coaching service. However, there are two situations where we do not represent clients with child support issues:
- We don’t normally take cases involving custodial parents whose only legal need is to get an order of child support. There are a couple of reasons for this: First, the Maryland Child Support Enforcement Administration will represent these parents without charge, and second, most parents trying to get child support cannot afford legal representation. We don’t think it’s fair to charge for services that are free anyway.
- If you are a non-custodial parent who needs representation in a child support matter because you cannot afford to pay for legal services, we recommend that you contact the local bar association or Legal Aid to see if you qualify for help. You can also get free legal help from the Family Law Self Help Clinics in the Circuit Courts in every Maryland jurisdiction.
We are not a free legal clinic and simply cannot take clients who are unable to pay our fees.