Making the Child Support Guidelines easier to understand.

The one question all lawyers get, not just family lawyers, is "how does child support work?" Or "how is the amount of child support determined". Whether it’s a friend of ours, or someone we just met, people seem to always want us to be able to quickly give them a thumbnail response about how child support works, or how much it should be in a certain (usually “their”) situation. The answers are often long, complex and confusing. There are calculations that need to be done. Questions that need to be answered (how many children, who pays for health care, etc.). It is not really a simple question. But it seems like everyone asks this question sooner or later, even if it’s just out of curiosity because they have a friend going through a child support situation.

To help simplify the answer, we have developed an App for the Georgia Child Support Guidelines. It is the first of its kind in Georgia. It is available for iPhones, Android phones and on the web (iPad version is coming in the next few days). Links to the App appear below. The App certainly should not and does not substitute for legal advice or for using the official calculator and worksheets, but we hope it will give a broad, initial projection so that people in a child support situation can have a general idea of the possible child support result in their case. There are many variables which can affect the determination of child support and certainly no one should rely on the App as if it were legal advice. But if you want a very general idea of what child support should be in a given situation, the App will give you a general idea. Of course there are many factors that are not taken into consideration in the App, such as other support obligations, extremely high income, unusual parenting time arrangements, etc. But what we hope is that this App will provide a modest amount of comfort or knowledge to those who have no idea about child support, so that they will not be shocked once they hire an attorney or use the official child support worksheets to determine child support. As a family law firm, we felt that developing the App was something we could and should do to help the general public better understand this often confusing, but very common family law issue.

Try it, there’s no cost and no ads. We just hope it provides a little bit of help for an often difficult to understand issue. And if you like it, please rate it and share it.

To locate the App in the ITunes App Store, search “GA Child Support" or click: https://appsto.re/us/9GxPP.i. The Android version can be found in the Play Store or Google Play by searching “GA Child Support” or by clicking: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=in.shaun.kschildsupportcalculator. To learn more about the Georgia Child Support Guidelines, feel free to visit the overview (and you may view and use the full calculator) on our site at: https://www.ksfamilylaw.com/resources_child_support.php

Photo: luckyraccoon | Bugtiger / shutterstock