Bee Cave Child Support Attorney
The Law Office of Oprea & Weber helps parents in Bee Cave and across Travis County, Williamson County, Hays County, and Bastrop County set up, defend, change, and enforce child support orders. Families in the Hill Country communities west of Austin often have higher or less predictable incomes than the typical case: bonuses, equity compensation, self-employment, and business ownership. Those details decide what a Bee Cave child support attorney actually has to fight about, because support in Texas is built on net resources, not on a flat number.
Texas uses a guideline formula that applies a fixed percentage to the paying parent’s monthly net resources: 20% for one child, 25% for two, 30% for three, 35% for four, and 40% for five, with six or more children set at no less than the five-child percentage. The percentages apply only up to a statutory cap on net resources, which the state adjusts periodically, and a court can depart from the guidelines when they would be unjust or inappropriate for the child. The fight in most cases is not the percentage. It is what counts as income, who gets to define it, and whether the case deserves a departure.
What Counts as Income When Support Is Calculated
Net resources start with 100 percent of wages and salary and other pay for personal services, including commissions, overtime, tips, and bonuses. Texas law reaches well beyond the paycheck, though, and that is where Bee Cave cases tend to get complicated. Self-employment and business income, rental income, dividends, interest, and other regular sources of money can all come into the calculation, and the paying parent’s own description of that income is not the last word. When a parent owns a business, the question often becomes whether personal expenses are running through the company in a way that understates true resources.
The formula then subtracts certain items, such as taxes and health insurance premiums for the child, to arrive at net resources. Because the percentage is applied to that figure, small disagreements about what belongs in or out of it move the final order every month for years. We gather pay records, tax returns, business financials, and account statements early so that the number the court sees reflects reality.
If the paying parent earns below a low-income threshold, Texas uses a reduced set of presumptive percentages, starting at 15% for one child. Parents who are underemployed or unemployed on purpose to reduce support can face a court that looks at earning potential rather than actual earnings, which is another area where documentation matters.
Why Choose Oprea & Weber for Child Support in Bee Cave
The Law Office of Oprea & Weber is a boutique divorce and family law firm serving Bee Cave and the wider Travis County area, along with Williamson, Hays, and Bastrop Counties and the rest of Central Texas. The firm handles child support, custody and visitation, paternity and SAPCR suits, modifications, relocation, and enforcement, as well as divorce, property division, and spousal maintenance. Clients work directly with their attorney. Your lawyer personally handles your case from the first consultation to the final order, the caseload is kept intentionally manageable, and you are not passed off to layers of staff or junior associates.
Kevin Weber, Attorney, and Karen Oprea, Attorney, both graduated magna cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School. Kevin trained in complex commercial litigation and negotiation at Latham & Watkins in Manhattan, experience that translates directly to child support disputes involving business interests, deferred compensation, and contested financial records. Kevin also mediates family law disputes and represents clients in mediation, which gives him a practical read on what a settlement can realistically include. Karen has briefed and argued cases before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the Texas Courts of Appeals, and the New York appellate courts, so the firm approaches every file with the discipline needed if an order is challenged or enforced on appeal.
The firm prefers cooperative resolution when it is possible, because it saves money and emotional strain, and prepares every case as though it may go to a judge. Clients describe the attorneys as knowledgeable, thorough, and caring, and several mention that complicated legal language was translated into information they could actually use. We explain your options in plain language and keep you informed at each stage.
Situations Where Child Support Becomes a Dispute
- Initial Orders in Divorce: Support is set as part of the final decree, and the same case decides conservatorship and possession. The schedule parents agree to can affect the support analysis, so the two issues should be negotiated together rather than one at a time.
- Unmarried Parents and Paternity: Support for a child born outside marriage requires legal parentage first. A paternity case or SAPCR suit establishes who the legal parents are and then addresses support, custody, and visitation in the same proceeding.
- Variable and Bonus-Based Income: Commissions, bonuses, and overtime count toward net resources. Parents with income that swings from year to year often need an order drafted to address that variation rather than an average that is wrong in both directions.
- Self-Employed and Business-Owner Parents: Owners can control how income shows up on paper. Disputes center on add-backs, personal expenses paid by the business, and whether reported income reflects what the parent can actually draw.
- Modification After Changed Circumstances: A job loss, a significant raise, a new child, or a change in the child’s needs may justify a new amount. Texas allows modification on a material and substantial change in circumstances, or after three years if the monthly amount now differs from the guideline figure by 20 percent or $100.
- Medical and Extraordinary Needs: A child with significant medical, educational, or developmental needs may justify an order above or outside the guidelines. Health insurance and uncovered medical costs are addressed separately from the base support figure.
- Enforcement of Unpaid Support: When a parent falls behind, the receiving parent can ask the court to enforce the order. Arrears, interest, and the tools available to collect them depend on how the original order was written.
- Out-of-County and Relocation Cases: Parents often move between Bee Cave, Lakeway, Dripping Springs, and Austin, or farther. A move can change possession schedules and, through them, the support picture.
What to Do When Support Is Being Set, Contested, or Ignored
Start with the documents. Pull recent pay stubs, the last few years of tax returns, records of bonuses and equity compensation, business financial statements if either parent owns a company, and your child’s health insurance and medical expense records. If you are the parent asking for support, you will want proof of what the other parent actually earns. If you will be paying, you want proof of every legitimate deduction and every other child you support in another household, since support for other children can adjust the percentage.
Where a Bee Cave case is filed depends on where the family lives and the type of case. Bee Cave sits in Travis County, and family cases there are heard in the Travis County district courts, which hear contested hearings and trials in person at the Travis County Civil and Family Courts Facility in Austin. Travis County also has Associate Courts and Title IV-D Child Support Courts that handle support matters, including cases brought through the Attorney General’s child support program. Families who live in neighboring Williamson, Hays, or Bastrop County file in that county’s district courts instead, and each county has its own clerk and local procedures.
If you are in a divorce, ask for temporary orders early. Temporary orders can set interim child support so that the children’s expenses are covered while the case is pending, and they often set the tone for the rest of the case. If you are a parent who has fallen behind, do not wait for the other side to file. Support that is owed does not disappear, and a modification request cannot erase past due amounts, so deal with changes in income by filing promptly rather than by simply paying less.
The most common mistakes are informal side agreements, such as agreeing to a lower amount with no court order, and assuming that an agreed number is automatically enforceable. Only the order the court signs controls. Another frequent mistake is failing to report a change in circumstances, then learning later that the other parent or the court views the delay as a problem. Talk to an attorney before you make changes that you intend to rely on.
Changing or Enforcing an Existing Child Support Order
A Texas child support order is not permanent. A court may modify it when circumstances have materially and substantially changed since the order was signed, and there is no minimum waiting period for that route. A separate route opens once three years have passed since the order was entered or last modified: if the current monthly amount differs from what the guidelines would produce by 20 percent or $100, modification may be available without proving a broader change. Where the original amount was one the parents agreed to that differs from the guidelines, the court may modify only upon a material and substantial change since the order was rendered. Incarceration for more than 180 days counts as a material and substantial change.
Modification matters in both directions. A paying parent who lost a job or took on a legitimate change in income needs relief before arrears build. A receiving parent whose circumstances have shifted, or whose co-parent’s income has risen well beyond what the existing order assumed, may be owed a higher amount. Support is also tied to possession in practice, and recent changes to Texas possession law have made the Expanded Standard Possession Order the default for new orders when parents live within 50 miles of each other. Parents with existing orders must file a modification to adopt it, which can prompt a fresh look at support as well.
When a parent is not following an order, enforcement is the tool. Because the firm handles modification, relocation, and enforcement as part of its family law practice, a single attorney can look at the whole order and decide whether the better remedy is to enforce what exists or to ask the court to update it first.
Bee Cave Child Support Questions Parents Ask
How is child support calculated in Texas?
Texas applies a percentage to the paying parent’s monthly net resources: 20% for one child, 25% for two, 30% for three, 35% for four, and 40% for five, with six or more children at no less than the five-child percentage. The percentages apply only up to a cap on net resources that the state adjusts periodically. Courts presume the guideline amount is correct but can depart from it when it would be unjust or inappropriate for the child.
What counts as net resources?
Net resources begin with all wage and salary income and other compensation for personal services, including commissions, overtime, tips, and bonuses. They also include other income such as self-employment earnings, rental income, and investment returns, minus items the law allows to be deducted, such as certain taxes and the cost of the child’s health insurance.
Is child support always based on the parent’s actual income?
Not always. If a parent is intentionally underemployed or unemployed, a court can look at what the parent is capable of earning rather than the figure they currently report. That is one reason documentation of work history and earning ability matters in contested cases.
When does child support end in Texas?
Support generally runs until the child turns 18 or graduates from high school, whichever is later, so long as the child remains enrolled and meets attendance requirements. Support for a disabled child who cannot support themselves can continue indefinitely.
Can I change my child support order?
Yes, in two main ways. A material and substantial change in circumstances can support modification at any time. Alternatively, once three years have passed since the order was entered or last modified, you may seek modification if the monthly amount differs from the guideline amount by 20 percent or $100.
My ex and I agreed on an amount lower than the guidelines. Can it be changed later?
If the court approved an agreed amount that departs from the guidelines, the order can be modified only if circumstances have materially and substantially changed since it was entered. The three-year route does not apply in the same way, which is why agreements should be drafted carefully at the start.
Does the amount of time each parent has the child affect support?
The guideline formula is built on the paying parent’s net resources and the number of children, not a time-sharing credit. Possession schedules still matter in practice because they shape the overall arrangement, and the court may consider unusual circumstances when deciding whether to depart from the guidelines. Parents who negotiate a nonstandard schedule should have support addressed at the same time.
Do I have to pay support if the other parent will not let me see my child?
Yes. Support and possession are legally separate obligations. A parent who is being denied possession should seek enforcement of the possession order through the court rather than withholding payment, since unpaid support accrues and can be enforced against the paying parent.
What happens if my income drops after I lose my job?
The existing order stays in force until a court changes it, and past due amounts cannot be wiped out by a later modification. If your income has dropped significantly, filing a modification promptly is the way to stop the problem from growing. Courts look at the reason for the change, so a layoff is treated differently from a voluntary decision to cut hours.
Can a stepparent or other non-parent seek custody or possession, and does that affect support?
Standing for non-parents such as stepparents to seek custody or possession has been narrowed, and the law now refers to exclusive care, control, and possession. These cases are fact-heavy, and whether a non-parent has standing can change who is a party to a support dispute. If a non-parent is involved in your case, get advice early on how standing applies.
How long does a child support case take in Travis County?
It depends on whether the parents agree. An agreed order can be entered quickly once the paperwork is complete, while contested cases involving business income or discovery disputes can take many months. In a divorce, the 60-day waiting period after filing is the floor for the decree, and support is usually resolved along with the rest of the case.
Serving Child Support Clients in Bee Cave and Throughout Central Texas
The firm represents parents in Bee Cave and the surrounding Hill Country communities of Travis County, including Lakeway, Rollingwood, West Lake Hills, Briarcliff, Spicewood, Lago Vista, Jonestown, Volente, and Pflugerville, along with the many Austin neighborhoods that make up the city’s western and central edge, from Westlake and Barton Creek to Tarrytown, Zilker, Hyde Park, and downtown. In the north, we serve families in Williamson County, including Round Rock, Cedar Park, Leander, Georgetown, Hutto, Taylor, and Liberty Hill. To the south and southwest, we work with families in Hays County, including Dripping Springs, Kyle, Buda, San Marcos, and Wimberley. To the east, we serve Bastrop County, including Bastrop, Elgin, and Smithville. Families anywhere in Central Texas dealing with a support order, a modification, or enforcement can talk with us about their situation.
Talk With a Bee Cave Child Support Lawyer
Child support affects your budget and your child’s stability for years, so the order should be right before it is signed and fixed quickly when it stops fitting. If you need to establish support, contest a number, modify an order after a change in income, or enforce one that is not being followed, a Bee Cave child support lawyer at Oprea & Weber can review your documents, explain where you stand, and lay out a plan. Call the firm to schedule a consultation and speak directly with an attorney who will handle your case from start to finish.