Louisiana Child Support Calculator

Child support cases are separated into three different categories in the state of Louisiana. These are:

• parent locate,
• intake,
• and collections.

There is a division of the Office of Family Support that assists people who are having difficulties.

This division, Support Enforcement Services (SES), can help order paternity tests, find non-custodial parents, establish child support orders and enforce the orders.

Here is a closer look at some of the services that you can expect from SES.

Enforcing a Child Support Order

The Enforcement Services can help enforce child support orders if a non-custodial parent neglects her or his obligation. There are various ways that this can happen. By denying passports, intercepting tax refunds, executing income assignments, requesting contempt of court charges, and suspending licenses, SES can penalize non-paying parents. It is also possible for SES to intercept lottery winnings of a non-custodial parent to try and collect payments.

Establishing a Support Order

All children are entitled in a legal sense to financial support from both of their parents. It is up to courts to set guidelines on how to determine how much a non-custodial parent must contribute towards the expenses of his or her children.

The guidelines can be influenced by many factors, such as the income of both parents and the number of children that are in the household.

Courts take into consideration monthly gross incomes when determining numbers. This income can come from any source and includes pensions, salaries, commissions, bonuses, and dividends.

Disability benefits, distributions from IRAs and 401Ks, capital gains, mineral royalties, rent received, and social security benefits are also calculated as monthly gross income.

In addition, the value of a company car, reimbursed meal costs and free housing can also be included.

Gross income may also include the value of free housing, a company car, or reimbursed meal costs. Expenses looked at include, but are not limited to, health insurance, childcare costs, and other miscellaneous expenses.

Locating Non-custodial Parents

To get a non-paying parent to pay, that parent has to be located. The SES can find a missing parent and arrange for the payment of overdue child support.

There are several resources that the SES makes use of to locate such parents. These are:Electronic Parent Locator NetworkThis is a resource that gathers information and makes it available to search for absent parents throughout America.U.S Treasury DepartmentIt is possible to get a full-service Internal Revenue Service collection that can go towards helping with collecting owed child support. This is done for a fee and only if eligible.The Federal Parent Locator ServiceThis is a database that has information on parents who are benefiting from veteran’s pensions and social security. Parents who work for the Federal government are also on record in this database.

Who Pays for Daycare and Health Insurance?

In the state of Louisiana, the law demands that child care costs must be added to basic child support costs. As such, if the monthly cost of child care (daycare and health insurance) is a total of $300, the full amount is added to the amount of child support owed.

For example, if a parent should be paying $1,200, the above-mentioned $300 will be added to make the child support amount a total of $1,500.

On top of that, courts can demand that a parent get a health benefit plan or policy for the children in question. This will be added to the child support expenses.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Exactly Are Child Support Arrears?

This is the amount of child support that has not been paid by the parent who should have been paying. It can be collected by the state through a bank levy or wage garnishment, if necessary. Also, the state can withhold welfare benefits to collect arrears.

How Does Louisiana Child Support Treat Child Care Costs?

There are special guidelines in place in Louisiana because of the high costs of child care. These costs are separate from general costs in raising children to calculate child support payments.

Child care is treated as a mandatory deduction. If a non-custodial parent pays for childcare, some of the monthly costs the custodial parent pays are deducted from the other parent’s monthly payment of child support.

If the custodial parent is paying for child care, the other parent has to pay their share plus basic child support.

How Does the State of Louisiana Treat Extraordinary Medical Costs?

For extraordinary medical care costs of children, Louisiana has special guidelines to help deal with them. The sharing of these costs is separate from basic child support payments. Generally, these medical costs are costly procedures, hospital visits, and illness. As is the case with child care costs, extraordinary medical costs are mandatory deductions.

Does Having Shared Custody of the Child Have Any Effects on Child Support in Louisiana?

Every American state has a way of modifying the child support amount that is owed in cases of shared custody.

In the case of Louisiana, a judge overseeing the case can use a shared custody agreement to justify a variation from general calculations.

If a non-custodial parent has parenting time, the amount of owed child support can take into account money spent on resources during visitations.

How Does Louisiana Enforce Child Support?

The state child support agency enforces child support in Louisiana. It handles enforcement of support orders, locating non-custodial parents and unpaid child support.

Does Child Support in Louisiana Cover College Education?

There is no explicit requirement for college expenses to be covered by child support in Louisiana. However, this kind of financial support can be voluntarily provided by the non-custodial parent. Once it has been agreed upon by both parties, it can be contractually enforced.

How Does Louisiana Tax Child Support Payments?

In the state of Louisiana, the parent who receives child support does not need to pay any federal tax on the payments. The payer of child support is not able to deduct their payments from their tax either. It should be noted that Louisiana tax law may vary on the tax treatment of child support payments.