The Attorney General of Texas provides a monthly child support calculator for people to use when trying to determine an estimate for a single source of income. Texas Family Code § 154.125 establishes that child support is issued according to the following percentages of net resources. These apply when the paying parent’s monthly net resources are less than the maximum amount of net resources to which the statutory guidelines apply:

• 20 percent for 1 child
• 25 percent for 2 children
• 30 percent for 3 children
• 35 percent for 4 children
• 40 percent for 5 children
• Not less than 40 percent for 6 or more children

If an obligor's monthly net resources are under $1,000, the court will generally apply the following schedule in creating the child support order:

• 15 percent for 1 child
• 20 percent for 2 children
• 25 percent for 3 children
• 30 percent for 4 children
• 35 percent for 5 children
• Not less than 35 percent for 6 or more children

Additional Child Support Notes

Net resources will include several different kinds of income. A court will take the total amount of money a person receives from all sources and deduct various taxes and the cost of a child’s health insurance to determine net resources.

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) has a Child Protective Investigations (CPI) division that is responsible for investigating and managing allegations of child abuse and neglect. 

Finding out that you are being investigated by DFPS can trigger many emotions - fear, confusion, anger - and you may have no idea what to expect from a child protective services investigation. If you are worried that you could lose your kids because of an investigation, make sure you have a Texas family lawyer who can help you fight against any accusations and prove your parental fitness. 

Did Someone Report Me to DFPS? 

The first question parents generally ask themselves after they are notified of a DFPS investigation is, “Why is this happening to me?” Usually, CPI gets involved because someone has made a report concerning the welfare of your child. This person may be worried that your child is being abused or neglected, or they may have ulterior motives. But it does not necessarily mean that you have done anything wrong, and an investigation certainly does not automatically mean that you will lose your children. 

Child support is often one of the most contentious elements of divorce, but parental disagreements about child support and what it should cover often endure long after a divorce is finalized. As long as a child is under 18 or is still in high school, child support payments are usually required so one parent is not left meeting the entire financial burden of a child’s needs. 

Texas child support laws are quite conservative compared to many other states. Child support is intended to cover the basic housing, clothing, health, educational, and nutritional needs of a child, but will often cover nothing else. This can leave the parent who has a child most of the time scrambling to meet the child’s needs. If you are a parent who needs childcare in Texas, read on to find out whether you can ask your child’s other parent to help cover this important expense. 

Childcare Costs Are Rising Around the County

While the cost of childcare varies depending on the part of Texas in which a family lives, even less expensive areas have childcare costs that can far exceed one parent’s ability to pay by themselves. Parents of infants can expect to pay at least $1,000 a month, and childcare for older children is not much less. 

The safety of every child is paramount. In the state of Texas, children are protected from neglect and abuse by the Child Protective Service (CPS), which is a division of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS). They investigate cases of physical and mental abuse and neglect throughout the state and can remove children from unsafe environments. While most child protective service cases are well-founded, the system can also be used by a parent for malicious ends. Sometimes it is to try to win greater custody rights of their children and sometimes it is for nothing more than spite or vengeance towards a former spouse or parent of their child.

What to Do During a CPS Investigation

No matter if you are completely innocent of the charges against you, it is still very important to fully cooperate with the investigation. You may feel angry, confused, and scared of losing your child. However, if you do not cooperate with the investigator, it will reflect poorly on you and hurt your case. You have the right to be represented through the process and should retain an attorney who has experience with DFPS and Child Protective Services investigations.

During a typical investigation, the CPS caseworker will:

Becoming a father should be a life-changing moment in any man’s life. However, there should be no clouds of uncertainty hanging over you or the child. If you are uncertain of your paternity or if your paternity is being disputed by the child’s mother, there are steps you can take to legally determine if you are the father of the child. No matter what led to the disputed paternity case, the legal establishment of paternity can benefit the child, the father, and the mother.

Options for Establishing Paternity in Texas

If a man and woman are married, or if the child is born within 300 days of the couple’s divorce, the man is legally presumed to be the father of the child. For couples who are not married but agree on who the father of the child is, paternity can be established by both parents signing an Acknowledgment of Paternity (AOP) form. This form is only legally valid if both parents sign.

If there is any dispute or uncertainty over who the father of the child is, then the simplest way to establish paternity is through a DNA test. After a paternity suit is filed, then the mother, father, and child will have their DNA tested through a simple cheek swab. The accuracy rate of the tests is nearly perfect.