Your Path Family Law, Child Support Attorney, Kalamazoo, Michigan

You want the best for your children, but medical care, school supplies, food, clothes, and toys all cost money. Child support can make sure both parents are contributing to the costs of raising a child, but sometimes simply applying a formula doesn’t make sense. You need a child support attorney to help you find a fair resolution that works for your family.

Advocating for Single Parents in Southwest Michigan

You don’t have to raise your child alone. If you are a single parent in Kalamazoo, Southwest Michigan, or beyond, you are entitled to financial assistance from your child’s other parent. Child support is mandatory – non-custodial parents and even those who share parenting time, must help to provide for their kids’ needs financially. At Your Path Family Law, we can help you establish your child’s father’s paternity or locate and serve your child’s mother, so you get a child support order that will help you provide for their needs.

Unbundled Child Support Services for Low-Income Families in Kalamazoo, MI

Not every family has the disposable income to go through an expensive family court case to collect child support. While the Friend of the Court and the local prosecutor’s office each offer services to some low-income families on public assistance, in other cases you may need a private child support lawyer to give you practical advice without going to court. We want to help you on your path through the family courts. We can provide unbundled child support services, helping you to determine what you might owe under the Michigan Child Support Formula, so that you and your former spouse or partner can reach an agreement to support your child without the time, expense, and embarrassment of lengthy court hearings.

Compassionate Representation Helping You Prove Income for Calculating Child Support

Child Support in Michigan is determined by a complex mathematical formula based on your income, your co-parent’s income, and the parenting time  your child spends with each parent. However, determining the right numbers to put into that formula isn’t always easy. When one or both parents are self-employed, hiding income, or have unusual circumstances, it can take work to prove that party’s income for the purposes of calculating child support.

At Your Path Family Law, we are experienced in the intricacies of the child support formula. In the context of a divorce or child custody  case, or in a stand-alone child support matter, we can help you take a close look at all the facts. We will advocate for a fair income amount at the Friend of the Court level. When appropriate, we can object to the Friend of the Court’s recommendations, taking your child support matter to the Circuit Court judge, so that you can receive a fair child support order.

Skilled Child Support Advocacy for When Formulas Don’t Work

In other cases, a strict application of the Michigan Child Support Formula may not be what’s right for your child. Your child may have special needs or extensive education costs. Your parenting time overnights may not reflect the division of labor or costs between co-parents. Perhaps you pay directly for some of your child’s expenses. In these cases, our family law attorney Rachel Gruetzner Kelley is intimately familiar with the rules for when and how to deviate from the formula. We will advise you about the process so that you can choose your path.

Practical Advice When Modifying Existing Child Support Orders

The entry of a child support order isn’t always the end of the story. New jobs, unexpected unemployment, and other life changes can all make a child support order unfair or unreasonable over time. When that happens, we can help you evaluate your current order and what has changed, so you can decide whether to ask the court to modify your order to suit your new circumstances.

Choose Your Path to Child Support Solutions

Whether you need advice, want to better understand the Michigan Child Support Formula, or need to change an order already in place, Your Path Family Law is here to help. We will offer you practical, predictable legal services, tailored to suit your needs. With your priorities in mind, we will advocate on your behalf in Kalamazoo County and across Southwest Michigan. Meet with our intake team for free – schedule your information session today.