Visit: www.oplawyers.org Can you agree to set no child support in the future?
Well, in Texas, especially in Harris county, the answer is-- it depends.
So over the years, I’ve seen situations where parents decide to set no child support. There may be reasons for this.
The most common reason is because the obligor parent wants to provide direct support themselves for the child outside of the State Disbursement System. For example, the parents may agree that they will just work it out between the two of them and one parent will pay the other some money each month, but with no cash amount being set down officially on paper.
Or another reason for not setting child support in a court order is perhaps one parent, like a dad, will pay for other things for the child, instead of paying the mom child support, like paying for private school costs, daycare, or extracurricular activities like team sports costs.
Still another reason might be, where the obligor parent wants to pay some super large lump sum up front to cover in-full ALL future child support so that the other parent gets paid up front and cannot ever come back for a future modification.
So what should you know….
1. First, know that per Sec. 154.124 of the Texas Family Code, titled AGREEMENT CONCERNING SUPPORT, the parents of a child can agree to their own child support terms, and if a Judge finds those terms are in the best interest of the child, the judge can approve it.
But also know, per this same section, a judge can reject the parents agreement if the judge feels the support agreement is not in the kid’s best interest. In fact, the judge can even substitute his or her own child support terms for the parents.
2. Second, know that usually, a good mediation agreement may allow parents to create customized contractual agreements that helps kids get the financial support they need, while letting the parents put no current child support terms on paper. But also remember that any mediation agreement without child support may come off to some judges as unfair or not in the child’s best interest. But it all depends on the judge and whether they will challenge the parties’ mediation agreement.
2. Lastly, remember that to a lot of courts it is against the public policy of the state that children not be supported by their parents. So putting in a court order that there shall be NO child support or writing that a parent may NEVER come back to request child support, or request an increase in child support, may be prohibited because the child has a right to receive support from both parents. So the parents must have a pretty convincing reason when they explain to the court how the child will be provided for and why it’s in the child’s interest to not order support amounts?
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