Are you the divorcing parent of a child in Texas? If so, you or your future former spouse may be required to make child support payments. Whether you are the parent who is ordered to pay support or the parent who may receive such support, it is important for you to understand a few things about these requirements in Texas.
As explained by the Texas Legislature, a person who is ordered to pay child support has a few options as to how to satisfy that requirement. The most commonly thought of or known practice is that of monthly payments. However, a parent may also choose to put aside a specific property asset for the benefit of the child or make an annuity purchase. It is also possible for a parent to make a one-time lump sum payment. Finally, child support awards can be satisfied by some combination of an of these options.
Also important to understand is that the court recognizes a requirement on the part of a child to remain in school if to be eligible for child support. This may provide for a child support award to extend beyond a child’s eighteenth birthday so long as he or she is in school as required. Payments may be able to be stopped in the month after graduation.
This information is not intended to provide legal advice but is instead meant to give divorcing Texas parents an overview of some unique aspects to how the state manages the required payment of child support.