Child Support Lawyer Pasco County FL
Serving All of Florida
Child Support Lawyer Pasco County FL | Wendy Doyle-Palumbo
When your children’s financial security is at stake, you need a child support lawyer in Pasco County FL who will fight aggressively for their rights. Wendy Doyle-Palumbo brings over 30 years of litigation experience and Guardian Ad Litem background to secure fair child support, enforce existing orders, and protect your children’s financial future.
Our Child Support Approach
Unlike attorneys who avoid aggressive enforcement, our trial-ready approach ensures non-paying parents take support obligations seriously. Our Guardian Ad Litem experience means we understand what children truly need financially and how to present compelling cases that secure adequate support for your children.
Child Support Services Include:
• Initial child support establishment and calculations • Child support enforcement and collection actions • Support modification for changed circumstances • Back child support recovery and interest calculation • Paternity establishment for support purposes • Interstate child support enforcement • Contempt proceedings for non-payment
Why Choose Our Child Support Services
Our litigation background ensures effective enforcement when parents refuse to pay court-ordered support. Courts and opposing counsel know that when Wendy handles child support cases, she will pursue all available remedies including wage garnishment, asset seizure, and contempt proceedings to protect children’s rights.
Your children deserve financial support—we’ll fight to get it. Contact experienced child support lawyer Wendy Doyle-Palumbo at (727) 233-2134 for aggressive advocacy in your child support case.
Pasco County, Florida Family Law Attorney
Wendy Doyle-Palumbo is an experienced family law trial attorney dedicated to fighting for justice and the best possible outcomes for clients throughout Pasco County facing difficult family legal matters. I provide compassionate, individualized attention combined with aggressive advocacy throughout the entire legal process. Contact me today for superior legal representation that protects your family’s future and gets results.
Child Support Lawyer Pasco County FL: Fighting for Your Children’s Financial Security
Your children have the right to financial support from both parents, but obtaining and enforcing that support often requires aggressive legal action. When non-custodial parents refuse to pay adequate child support or attempt to hide income to avoid their obligations, you need a child support lawyer in Pasco County FL who will fight relentlessly for your children’s financial security. With over 30 years of litigation experience and extensive Guardian Ad Litem background, Wendy Doyle-Palumbo provides the fierce advocacy children need to secure the financial support they deserve.
Understanding Florida Child Support Law
Florida’s child support system is designed to ensure that both parents contribute financially to their children’s needs, regardless of custody arrangements. The state uses specific guidelines to calculate support obligations based on both parents’ incomes, the number of children, and time-sharing arrangements. However, these seemingly straightforward calculations often become complex when parents attempt to hide income, manipulate their financial circumstances, or simply refuse to pay court-ordered support.
As an experienced child support attorney in Tampa Bay with Guardian Ad Litem experience, Wendy Doyle-Palumbo understands both the legal requirements for child support and the practical challenges families face when trying to collect adequate support for their children. Her litigation background ensures effective advocacy whether you’re establishing initial support, modifying existing orders, or enforcing support obligations against non-compliant parents.
Florida Child Support Guidelines and Calculations
Income Determination: Florida courts consider all sources of income when calculating child support, including wages, bonuses, commissions, self-employment income, rental income, investment returns, and unemployment benefits. However, determining actual income can be challenging when parents are self-employed or attempt to hide income sources.
Deviation Factors: Courts may deviate from standard guidelines when special circumstances exist, such as children’s extraordinary medical expenses, private school costs, or special needs requiring additional financial support.
Time-Sharing Impact: The amount of overnight stays each parent has with the children affects support calculations, as parents with substantial time-sharing may receive credits that reduce their support obligations.
Health Insurance and Medical Expenses: Child support orders typically include provisions for health insurance coverage and allocation of uncovered medical expenses between both parents.
Comprehensive Child Support Services
Initial Child Support Establishment
When establishing child support for the first time, whether through divorce or paternity proceedings, our services include:
Comprehensive Income Discovery: Investigating both parents’ true income when self-employment, cash payments, or other circumstances make income determination complex. This includes reviewing tax returns, bank records, business records, and lifestyle evidence that may reveal hidden income.
Accurate Support Calculations: Ensuring support calculations properly reflect both parents’ incomes and include appropriate deviations for children’s special needs or extraordinary expenses.
Future Modification Provisions: Building flexibility into support orders that allow for appropriate modifications as circumstances change, while protecting against frivolous modification attempts.
Child Support Enforcement and Collection
When parents fail to pay court-ordered support, aggressive enforcement action is essential to protect children’s financial security. Our child support enforcement lawyer Florida services include:
Wage Garnishment: Implementing automatic wage deductions that ensure consistent support payments directly from the non-paying parent’s employer.
Asset Seizure: Pursuing bank account levies, property liens, and other asset seizure mechanisms when traditional enforcement methods aren’t sufficient.
Professional License Suspension: Seeking suspension of professional licenses, driver’s licenses, and other privileges when parents persistently refuse to pay support.
Contempt of Court Proceedings: Filing contempt actions that can result in fines, attorney fee awards, or jail time for willful non-payment of child support.
Federal and State Tax Intercepts: Intercepting tax refunds and other government payments to satisfy unpaid child support obligations.
Child Support Modifications
Life circumstances change, and child support orders may need modification to reflect new realities. Our child support modification attorney Pasco County experience includes:
Income Change Modifications: Increasing support when the paying parent’s income has substantially increased, or decreasing support when legitimate income reductions have occurred.
Children’s Changing Needs: Modifying support to address increased costs for medical care, special education, extracurricular activities, or other evolving needs as children grow.
Time-Sharing Modifications: Adjusting support calculations when custody arrangements change significantly, affecting each parent’s time with the children and associated expenses.
Emancipation and Aging Out: Handling support termination issues when children reach majority age, graduate from high school, or become emancipated.
Addressing Complex Child Support Issues
Hidden Income and Asset Discovery
Many child support cases involve parents who attempt to hide income or manipulate their financial circumstances to avoid support obligations. Our investigation techniques include:
Lifestyle Analysis: Examining spending patterns, assets, and lifestyle evidence that may reveal income sources not reported on tax returns or financial statements.
Business Record Analysis: Investigating self-employed parents’ business records, including reviewing corporate records, bank accounts, and business expenses that may include personal spending.
Forensic Accounting: Working with financial experts who specialize in uncovering hidden assets and unreported income in family law cases.
Subpoena Powers: Using court authority to obtain financial records from banks, employers, and other sources when parents refuse to provide complete financial disclosure.
Interstate Child Support Enforcement
When non-custodial parents live in different states, child support enforcement becomes more complex but remains achievable:
Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA): Utilizing interstate enforcement mechanisms that allow Florida orders to be enforced in other states where the non-paying parent lives or works.
Interstate Income Withholding: Implementing wage garnishment orders that follow non-custodial parents across state lines.
Multi-State Asset Discovery: Investigating assets and income sources in multiple states when parents attempt to avoid support obligations by relocating.
High-Income Child Support Cases
When parents have substantial incomes, child support calculations become more complex:
Above-Guidelines Support: Seeking support amounts that exceed standard guidelines when high-income parents can afford to provide more than minimum support levels.
Luxury vs. Necessity Analysis: Distinguishing between children’s basic needs and lifestyle enhancements when determining appropriate support levels for wealthy families.
Private School and Extracurricular Expenses: Addressing costs for private education, elite sports programs, and other activities that may be appropriate given the family’s income level.
Frequently Asked Questions About Child Support
How long does child support last in Florida?
Child support typically continues until the child reaches age 18 or graduates from high school, whichever occurs later, but not beyond age 19. Support may continue longer for children with disabilities or in other special circumstances defined by the support order.
Can child support be modified if I lose my job?
Yes, but you must petition the court for modification promptly. Support obligations continue at the original amount until the court modifies the order, and support cannot be reduced retroactively to before the date you file your modification petition.
What happens if the other parent moves to another state?
Interstate enforcement mechanisms allow Florida child support orders to be enforced in other states. However, enforcement may become more complex and time-consuming, making it important to act quickly when you discover non-payment.
Can I get back child support that wasn’t paid years ago?
Yes, unpaid child support (called “arrearages”) doesn’t disappear and continues to accrue interest. Back support can be collected even after the child reaches majority age, and there’s no statute of limitations on collecting past-due child support.
Why Choose Wendy Doyle-Palumbo for Child Support Cases
Guardian Ad Litem Experience Ensures Child-Focused Advocacy
Wendy’s extensive background as a Guardian Ad Litem Attorney means she understands children’s needs from a legal perspective and can effectively advocate for support arrangements that truly serve children’s best interests. This experience provides unique advantages in child support cases:
- Understanding of what children actually need for proper development and care
- Knowledge of how courts evaluate children’s financial needs in different circumstances
- Insight into factors that influence judges when making support decisions
- Experience working with families to develop realistic and sustainable support arrangements
Aggressive Enforcement That Gets Results
Many family law attorneys prefer to avoid aggressive enforcement actions, but children can’t wait for parents to voluntarily comply with support obligations. Our trial-ready approach ensures effective enforcement:
Immediate Action: We don’t wait for non-paying parents to become compliant—we pursue all available enforcement remedies promptly when support payments aren’t made.
Multiple Enforcement Strategies: Our experience includes wage garnishment, asset seizure, license suspension, contempt proceedings, and other enforcement mechanisms that ensure support obligations are met.
Interstate Coordination: We have experience working with other states’ enforcement agencies to pursue non-paying parents who relocate to avoid support obligations.
Comprehensive Income Discovery Techniques
Parents who attempt to hide income to avoid child support obligations face thorough investigation:
Financial Investigation: We use sophisticated techniques to uncover hidden income sources, including business records analysis, lifestyle examination, and asset discovery.
Expert Coordination: We work with forensic accountants, business valuation experts, and other professionals when complex financial circumstances require specialized analysis.
Court-Ordered Discovery: We utilize the court’s subpoena power to obtain financial records when parents refuse to provide complete financial disclosure voluntarily.
Client Success Story
“My ex-husband claimed he could only afford $200 per month in child support despite living in an expensive home and driving luxury cars. Wendy Doyle-Palumbo’s investigation revealed he was hiding income through his business and had significantly underreported his earnings. Her aggressive advocacy resulted in a support order for over $1,500 per month plus back support for the difference. Her litigation experience and thorough investigation made all the difference for my children’s financial security.” – T.K., Child Support Client
The High Cost of Inadequate Child Support Representation
Children’s financial security shouldn’t be left to chance. Inadequate legal representation in child support cases can result in:
- Support amounts that don’t adequately meet children’s needs
- Inability to collect support from non-compliant parents
- Loss of back support that could have been recovered through proper enforcement
- Failure to discover hidden income that would increase support obligations
- Missed opportunities to modify support when circumstances change
Emergency Child Support Situations
Sometimes immediate action is necessary to protect children’s financial security:
Emergency Support Orders: Seeking immediate temporary support when children face financial hardship due to non-payment or inadequate support.
Expedited Enforcement: Pursuing emergency enforcement actions when non-paying parents are attempting to hide assets or leave the jurisdiction.
Protective Orders: Obtaining court orders that prevent parents from dissipating assets or hiding income while support cases are pending.
Protecting Children’s Financial Security Throughout Florida
Our child support lawyer practice serves families throughout:
- Pasco County including Hudson, New Port Richey, and Wesley Chapel
- Hernando County including Brooksville and Spring Hill
- Citrus County including Crystal River and Inverness
- Throughout the Tampa Bay area and Central Florida
We also handle interstate enforcement cases involving non-custodial parents who live in other states but have support obligations to Florida children.
Take Action to Secure Your Children’s Financial Future
Children’s needs don’t wait for convenient timing or cooperative co-parents. Whether you’re establishing initial child support, seeking to enforce existing orders, or need modifications to address changed circumstances, your children deserve aggressive advocacy that secures their financial security.
Don’t let your children suffer financially due to inadequate child support. Contact experienced child support lawyer Wendy Doyle-Palumbo today at (727) 233-2134 for a confidential consultation about your child support case.
We’ll evaluate your situation, calculate appropriate support amounts, and develop an aggressive strategy to secure the financial support your children need and deserve.
Your children’s financial security is too important to leave to chance. Call now to secure the experienced advocacy that gets results in child support cases throughout Pasco County and the Tampa Bay area.