The Crucial Role of the Child Support Attorney in Macomb County
When a family faces a divorce, the complexity of emotions and financial decisions are difficult for everyone, spouses as well as the children. The role of the child support attorney in any jurisdiction — Warren, Clinton, Shelby and Macomb included — is to negotiate the delicate balance of family dynamics and well-being with money matters that have significant impact on all concerned.
Consider the three components of a divorce process:
- Emotional strain. This not only affects parents but also the children — perhaps in ways that are even more impacting. Your attorney should be able to provide resources such as counselor referrals to help with this. But the lawyer also needs to look at all negotiations and agreements through the filter of how the settlement terms will affect everyone psychologically as well as financially.
- Child custody decisions. How a child is parented, logistical arrangements, holidays and where the children go to school all are crucial factors in a divorce. If a parent moves a great distance away, the situation becomes even more complicated. And of course the moral and psychological fitness of a parent needs to be addressed.
- Child support. This can be the single largest factor in determining the financial arrangements in a divorce. It is integral to custody decisions, of course, but also involves the significant matters of healthcare, education (primary, secondary, and higher) and where the family resides.
That said, the state of Michigan provides guidelines and a formula for how support is determined. This includes income, seasonal variations, whether children have their own income, means testing, accounting for inheritances and gifts, low income producing assets, allowable deductions from income, whether there are additional children from other relationships, low income thresholds, and family net income. With the significant and sometimes complex matter of healthcare coverage, medical insurance obligations are a key factor as well.
In contentious cases, personal information can be surfaced as leveraging tools. This can be a bad strategy in many cases, but must be dealt with if initiated by the other parent. But regardless of which side of the issue a client falls, the role of this divorce law firm is to keep such matters as confidential as possible. The well-being of children should be honored and foremost in all proceedings.
A family-supportive child support attorney in Sterling Heights
For more information on family law and how to proceed with a divorce, contact Boyer Dawson & St. Pierre, 43805 Van Dyke Avenue, Sterling Heights, Michigan 48314. Phone: 248-841-4665, Fax: 586-731-6370, by e-mail: drd@boyerdawson.com or contact us online.
