Bastrop County Child Support Attorney

A child support order that fits your child’s needs and your family’s finances, and that holds up when life changes, is the goal in nearly every support case. The Law Office of Oprea & Weber is a boutique divorce and family law firm that handles child support establishment, modification, and enforcement for parents in Bastrop County and throughout Central Texas, working with clients in Bastrop, Elgin, Smithville, and the communities around them.

Support disputes in this county are heard in Bastrop, where the 21st and 423rd District Courts sit at the county seat. The 423rd hears only matters arising within Bastrop County, while the 21st shares a judicial district with Burleson, Lee, and Washington Counties. Which court your case lands in, and what the judge expects to see in your paperwork, can shape how smoothly it goes. The numbers in a support order are largely formula-driven, but the inputs to that formula are often fought over, and that is where careful work pays off.

How Texas Calculates Support, and Where the Fights Happen

Texas uses a guideline system built on the paying parent’s net monthly resources. The percentages are 20 percent for one child, 25 percent for two, 30 percent for three, 35 percent for four, and 40 percent for five, with six or more children receiving no less than the five-child percentage. There is a ceiling on the amount of monthly net resources to which those percentages apply, and the Attorney General adjusts that ceiling every six years using the Consumer Price Index, so it is worth confirming the current figure rather than relying on a number you saw a few years ago. When the paying parent’s net resources fall below a low-income threshold, a separate and lower set of percentages applies.

The percentage is the easy part. The dispute is usually over what counts as a resource. Net resources start with one hundred percent of wages and other compensation for personal services, including commissions, overtime, tips, and bonuses. Self-employed parents, business owners, and people with irregular income produce the hardest cases, because the real number may not appear on a single pay stub. Bastrop County has plenty of parents who commute into Austin, work in construction and trades, run small businesses, or earn seasonal income, and each of those patterns raises its own questions about what is truly available to pay support.

The guidelines are a presumption, not a command. A court may depart from them when applying them would be unjust or inappropriate, for example when a child has significant medical needs, or when a parent is supporting children in another household, which adjusts the percentage downward. Judges also hear evidence about the child’s actual needs. A good support case builds a record on all of this rather than assuming the formula will speak for itself.

Why Choose Oprea & Weber for Child Support in Bastrop County

The Law Office of Oprea & Weber is a boutique family law firm serving clients in Bastrop County, Travis County, Williamson County, Hays County, and across Central Texas. Our attorneys, Kevin Weber and Karen Oprea, 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, which matters in support cases where income is tied up in a business, commissions, or layered compensation that has to be pulled apart and explained. 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, giving the firm real depth in research, writing, and the legal arguments that drive contested hearings.

We keep our caseload intentionally manageable. Your attorney personally handles your case from the first consultation through the final order, with direct access and plain-language explanations, and you are not passed to layers of staff or junior associates. We prepare every case as though it may be tried, because that preparation gives you leverage in negotiation, but we pursue cooperative resolution whenever it is realistic. Kevin also mediates family law disputes and represents clients in mediation, so he knows what makes a support agreement hold together. Clients describe the firm as knowledgeable, thorough, and caring, and several have said we kept them steady through an emotional process.

Child Support Situations We Handle for Bastrop County Parents

• Support in a Divorce: When parents divorce, support is set in the final decree alongside conservatorship and possession. Getting the income picture right at this stage matters, because later changes require a separate modification suit.
• Support for Unmarried Parents: Parents who were never married can establish legal parentage and support through a Suit Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship. Parentage has to be settled before support can be ordered, and there are time limits on challenging an existing presumption or acknowledgment of paternity.
• Modification After Income Changes: A job loss, a significant raise, or a new business can justify revisiting an order. The route depends on how long the order has been in place and how far it has drifted from the guideline amount.
• Enforcement of Unpaid Support: When a parent falls behind or ignores an order, enforcement tools are available. We help the receiving parent pursue what is owed and help the paying parent respond when the facts are more complicated than a missed payment.
• Self-Employed and Variable Income Cases: Business owners, contractors, and commission earners often dispute what counts as net resources. Tax returns, bank records, and business financials become central evidence.
• Children With Special Medical or Educational Needs: Extraordinary needs can justify support above or below the usual formula result, and support for a child with a disability who cannot self-support can continue beyond the usual end date.
• Support Duration and Termination: Support generally runs until the child turns 18 or finishes high school, whichever comes later, provided the child stays enrolled and meets attendance requirements.
• Support Alongside Possession Changes: When a possession schedule or primary residence changes, support often has to change with it. Modifying conservatorship has its own standard, and the two requests are frequently filed together.

What to Do When Support Is Unsettled, Unpaid, or Out of Date

Start by gathering documents before anything is filed. For a new order, that means recent pay records, tax returns, and records of any bonuses, side income, or business earnings, plus what you spend on the child’s health insurance, child care, and medical costs. For enforcement, assemble a payment history showing what was ordered, what was actually paid, and when. A clean timeline is the most persuasive thing you can bring to a hearing, and it is far easier to build while the records are fresh.

Next, figure out which route fits. Modification is available when three years have passed since the order was signed or last modified and the monthly amount differs from the guideline amount by either twenty percent or one hundred dollars. If the order is newer than that, you generally need a material and substantial change in circumstances, and no waiting period applies to that route. If your existing order was an agreed amount that departed from the guidelines, the court can modify it only on a showing of materially and substantially changed circumstances. Incarceration of more than 180 days counts as such a change. Timing matters here, so do not assume a lower income automatically reduces what you owe; support obligations generally continue until a court actually changes them.

Cases in Bastrop County are filed in the district courts at the county seat in Bastrop, and parents sometimes also have matters connected to Travis County, where courts handling family cases include dedicated Title IV-D child support courts. Because jurisdiction and venue depend on where the child lives and where the prior order was entered, it is worth sorting out the right court before filing. The most common mistakes we see are stopping payments without a court order, informally agreeing to different amounts without having the agreement made official, and filing without the income documentation the judge will want. A conversation with an attorney before you act usually avoids all three.

Support, Possession, and Where the Two Connect

Support does not exist in isolation. The possession schedule affects how much time each parent spends with the child, and a change in that schedule can be a reason to revisit support. Parents with existing possession orders who want to adopt the Expanded Standard Possession Order, with Thursday overnights and weekends running through Monday morning, must file a modification; it does not apply automatically to old orders. For new orders, it is now the default when parents live within fifty miles of each other.

Modifying conservatorship or possession requires a material and substantial change in circumstances and a finding that the change is in the child’s best interest. There are specific grounds on the primary residence question, including a child twelve or older telling the judge in chambers which parent the child prefers, and a primary-residence parent voluntarily giving up primary care for at least six months. A suit to change primary residence filed within a year of the prior order generally needs a supporting affidavit alleging endangerment, consent, or relinquishment. We often advise parents to think about support and possession together, since changing one without considering the other can leave a gap in the arrangement.

Bastrop County Child Support Questions, Answered

How much child support will I pay or receive in Texas?

The starting point is a percentage of the paying parent’s net monthly resources: 20 percent for one child, 25 percent for two, 30 percent for three, 35 percent for four, and 40 percent for five, with six or more children getting at least the five-child percentage. Those percentages apply only up to a statutory cap on net resources, which the state adjusts periodically. A court can depart from the guidelines when they would be unjust or inappropriate for the child.

What counts as income for child support?

Net resources include all wages and salary and other pay for personal services, such as commissions, overtime, tips, and bonuses, along with other categories of income the Family Code lists. Self-employment and business income are examined closely, since the figure on a tax return does not always reflect what is actually available to pay support.

Can I change my support order?

Yes, in two ways. You can seek modification if three years have passed since the order was signed or last modified and the amount differs from the guideline figure by twenty percent or one hundred dollars. Or you can show a material and substantial change in circumstances, which has no waiting period. Either way, the existing order stays in force until a judge signs a new one.

If I lose my job, does my support obligation stop?

No. The order stays in effect, and unpaid amounts continue to accrue until the court changes it. If your income has dropped, file to modify promptly rather than waiting, because a court generally cannot undo past due support retroactively beyond the date a modification request was filed.

When does child support end?

Generally when 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 child with a disability who cannot support themselves may continue indefinitely.

Can parents agree to a different amount than the guidelines?

They can, and courts often approve agreed orders. The court still reviews the arrangement, and an agreement that departs from the guidelines is harder to change later, because modification then requires a material and substantial change in circumstances.

I was never married to the other parent. Can I still get support?

Yes, once parentage is legally established. An unmarried father can sign an acknowledgment of paternity, which can be rescinded within 60 days, or parentage can be adjudicated by a court. Time limits apply to challenging an existing presumed or acknowledged father’s status, generally four years in the situations the statute covers, so these questions should not be left to sit.

Does shared or equal possession eliminate child support?

Not automatically. Even with a roughly equal schedule, the guidelines still apply based on the paying parent’s net resources, though the parents’ incomes and the structure of the schedule can lead to a different result in negotiation or a request for departure. Time with the child does not by itself cancel the obligation.

What happens if the other parent stops paying?

You can bring an enforcement action asking the court to confirm the amount owed and order payment, using the tools Texas law makes available. Keep records of every missed or partial payment, since the history is the core of the case.

How long does a child support case take in Bastrop County?

An agreed order can move quickly once both parents sign. Contested cases take longer, depending on the court’s calendar, how much financial discovery is needed, and whether mediation resolves the dispute. When support is part of a divorce, the 60-day waiting period from filing applies to the divorce itself.

Will a lawyer really make a difference in a support case that looks formula-driven?

Often, yes. The formula is simple, but disputes over what income counts, whether to depart from the guidelines, and how support interacts with possession are where outcomes diverge. Having the right facts in front of the judge, or in a well-drafted agreement, is the difference between an order that works and one you are back in court to fix.

Serving Child Support Clients Across Bastrop County and Nearby Communities

We represent parents throughout Bastrop County, including the county seat of Bastrop and the city of Elgin, Smithville, and the surrounding communities of Cedar Creek, Paige, Red Rock, McDade, Wyldwood, Rosanky, and Camp Swift. Parents in the Lost Pines area, along the Highway 71 and Highway 21 corridors, and in the rural stretches between those towns bring us support cases that range from straightforward guideline orders to disputes over self-employment income.

Because many Bastrop County families work or have co-parents in neighboring areas, we also serve parents in Travis County, including Austin, Manor, and Pflugerville; Williamson County, including Georgetown and Round Rock; and Hays County, including San Marcos, Kyle, and Buda. Whether the case belongs in a Bastrop County district court or elsewhere in Central Texas, we help you figure out where it should be filed and build it for that court.

Talk With a Bastrop County Child Support Lawyer

If you need a support order set, changed, or enforced, speak with a Bastrop County child support lawyer who will handle your case personally. The attorneys at Oprea & Weber will review your income, your child’s needs, and any existing order, tell you plainly what the numbers are likely to look like, and recommend whether negotiation, mediation, or a hearing makes the most sense. Call to schedule a consultation and get a clear plan for your next step.