Lakeway Child Support Attorney

Child support in Texas is driven far more by arithmetic than by argument, and that surprises parents who expect a judge to weigh who deserves what. The Law Office of Oprea & Weber is a boutique divorce and family law firm that handles child support, custody, paternity, and related family cases for families in Lakeway and across Travis, Williamson, Hays, and Bastrop Counties, and a Lakeway child support attorney spends much of the work getting the inputs to that arithmetic right.

Texas sets presumptive support as a percentage of the paying parent’s monthly net resources, and the definition of “net resources” is where most real disputes live. Bonuses, commissions, overtime, and tips count. For Lakeway families, where compensation often includes equity, business income, or variable pay, the difference between a clean number and a contested one can be substantial and long-lasting. A support order is not a one-time event; it can run for many years and can be revisited, so getting the first order right matters.

How Texas Calculates Child Support for Lakeway Parents

The guideline percentages are straightforward. A parent paying for one child is presumptively ordered 20 percent of net monthly resources. For two children it is 25 percent, for three it is 30 percent, for four it is 35 percent, and for five it is 40 percent. With six or more children, the percentage is not less than the five-child figure. If the paying parent’s net resources fall below the low-income threshold, a reduced schedule applies, starting at 15 percent for one child and rising to 35 percent for five or more.

The guidelines apply only up to a cap on monthly net resources. That cap is adjusted periodically for inflation, so the current figure should always be confirmed rather than assumed. Above the cap, a court can order more than the guideline amount if the child’s proven needs justify it, but the parent asking for more carries that burden.

Net resources start with 100 percent of wages and salary and other pay for personal services, including commissions, overtime, tips, and bonuses. From there, the court looks at other income streams and applies the statutory deductions. A Lakeway child support lawyer will often spend more time on what belongs in that calculation than on the percentage itself. The percentage can also be adjusted when the paying parent supports children in another household, and a court may depart from the guidelines when applying them would be unjust or inappropriate, such as when a child has extraordinary medical needs.

Why Choose The Law Office of Oprea & Weber for Child Support Cases

The Law Office of Oprea & Weber is a boutique divorce and family law firm serving Lakeway and the surrounding Travis County communities, along with Williamson, Hays, and Bastrop Counties. The firm helps parents establish, defend, enforce, and modify child support, whether support comes up inside a divorce, a paternity case, or a Suit Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship. Clients work directly with their attorney from the first consultation to the final decree, with an intentionally manageable caseload and no hand-off to layers of staff or junior associates. Communication is direct and in plain language.

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, which matters when support disputes turn on business income, compensation structures, or disputed financial records. 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, which shapes how the firm builds a record and prepares a case that could be reviewed. Kevin also mediates family law disputes and represents clients in mediation, so he sees how agreements are reached from both sides of the table.

The firm prepares every case as though it may go to trial while pursuing cooperative resolution whenever it makes sense. Clients describe the team as knowledgeable, thorough, and caring, and one client wrote that Kevin “translates legal language into applicable information.” For a topic as number-driven as support, that plain-language approach is a practical benefit.

Situations Where Child Support Disputes Arise

Initial Orders in Divorce: Support is set alongside conservatorship and possession in the final decree, and the order depends on which parent has the right to designate the child’s primary residence and how much time each parent has.
Unmarried Parents and Paternity: When parents were never married, support is typically set through a paternity action or SAPCR suit, which also resolves legal parentage, custody, and visitation in the same case.
Variable and Bonus-Based Income: Because bonuses, commissions, overtime, and tips count toward net resources, parents paid on irregular schedules often fight over how to average or document earnings.
Business Owners and Self-Employed Parents: Income can be hard to pin down when it runs through a company, so discovery of tax returns, bank statements, and financial records often decides the number.
Modification After a Change: Orders can be changed after a job loss, a raise, a new baby, or a change in the child’s needs, subject to the timing and threshold rules covered below.
Incarceration: A parent incarcerated for more than 180 days has a statutory basis to ask for modification based on a material and substantial change in circumstances.
Enforcement of Unpaid Support: When a parent falls behind or ignores the order, enforcement proceedings can follow, and the firm handles enforcement as well as setting the original order.
Special Needs and Extraordinary Expenses: A child with significant medical or educational needs may justify a departure from the guideline amount, and support for a disabled adult child can continue beyond the usual end date.

What to Do Right Now If You Need to Set, Change, or Enforce Support

Start by gathering your financial documents. Recent pay stubs, the last couple of years of tax returns, bonus and commission statements, and records of any business or side income give a lawyer what is needed to estimate guideline support quickly. If you are the receiving parent, collect what you can about the other parent’s income, even if it is incomplete; formal discovery can fill the gaps later. Also keep records of the child’s expenses, especially health insurance, medical costs, and child care.

If you are heading into a divorce, remember that support is only one piece of a case with a mandatory minimum timeline: Texas requires a 60-day wait after the petition is filed before a divorce can be granted, and spouses cannot waive that by agreement. During that period, either parent can ask for temporary orders, which can include temporary child support. Temporary support often sets the tone for the final outcome, so it is worth taking seriously rather than treating it as a placeholder.

Where your case is filed depends on residency and where the child lives. Travis County family cases are heard in its district courts at the Civil and Family Courts Facility in Austin, and Lakeway families whose cases belong in Travis County typically end up there. Contested hearings and trials in Travis County are generally held in person unless the parties agree otherwise or the court says otherwise. Cases connected to Williamson, Hays, or Bastrop County go to the district courts in those counties, and Travis County also has Title IV-D child support courts that handle cases involving the state’s child support enforcement program.

The most common mistakes are informal ones. Parents agree between themselves on a number and skip the court order, then find they have nothing enforceable when payments stop. Others stop paying because of a job loss without filing to modify, and back support keeps accruing. Until a court changes an order, the existing amount is what you owe, so file promptly if circumstances change rather than waiting.

Modifying Child Support Orders After Circumstances Change

Texas gives two routes to modification. The first is a material and substantial change in circumstances, which has no minimum waiting period. The second is time-based: if three years have passed since the order was made or last modified, and the current monthly amount differs from what the guidelines would produce by either 20 percent or $100, a court can modify it. If your original order departed from the guidelines by agreement, modification is limited to cases where circumstances have materially and substantially changed since the order was made.

Parents often expect modification to be automatic after a pay cut or a raise. It is not. You have to file, and relief generally cannot reach back before the filing date, so a delay in filing is a delay in relief. A Lakeway child support attorney can evaluate whether you qualify under either route before you commit to a filing.

Modification can also reach the non-money terms. Changing conservatorship or possession requires a material and substantial change and a finding that the change serves the child’s best interest. A child who is at least 12 and tells the judge in chambers which parent they prefer to designate the primary residence can be a ground for change. Since new orders for parents living within 50 miles of each other now default to the Expanded Standard Possession Order, parents with older orders who want that schedule need to file a modification to adopt it, which can affect how support is calculated.

Child Support Questions Lakeway Parents Ask

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

The starting point is a percentage of the paying parent’s monthly net resources: 20 percent for one child, 25 percent for two, 30 for three, 35 for four, and 40 for five. Those percentages apply up to a cap that is adjusted periodically. The court can adjust the figure for other children the payor supports or depart from the guidelines when they would be unjust.

What counts as income for child support purposes?

Net resources include all wages and salary plus other compensation for personal services, including commissions, overtime, tips, and bonuses, all counted at 100 percent. Other sources can count too, which is why financial records matter in a contested case.

When does child support end?

Support generally runs until the child turns 18 or graduates from high school, whichever is later, provided the child remains enrolled and meets attendance requirements. Support for a disabled child who cannot support themselves may continue indefinitely.

Does the amount change if we share time equally?

Texas guidelines do not automatically reduce support for equal time. The percentages are applied to the payor’s net resources, and parents with a shared schedule can still end up with an order in one direction. A court can depart from the guidelines when applying them would be unjust or inappropriate.

Can we agree on a different amount than the guidelines?

Parents can agree, and a court can approve an agreement that serves the child. The catch is that an agreed amount that departs from the guidelines is harder to modify later; you generally need to show a material and substantial change in circumstances rather than relying on the three-year route.

I lost my job. Do I still owe the full amount?

Yes, until the court modifies the order. A job loss may support a material and substantial change in circumstances, but only a filed and granted modification changes what you owe, and relief generally runs from the filing date forward. File as soon as you can.

Can a parent who is in jail get support reduced?

Incarceration for more than 180 days is recognized by statute as a material and substantial change in circumstances, which supports a request to modify. The change still has to be brought to the court; it does not adjust the order on its own.

If we were never married, how do I get a support order?

Through a paternity action or a SAPCR suit. Legal parentage has to be established first if it is not already, and support, custody, and visitation can be decided in the same case. Deadlines can apply to challenging parentage, including a four-year limit tied to the child’s birth in cases involving a presumed father, subject to exceptions.

My ex hasn’t paid in months. What can I do?

You can file an enforcement action asking the court to enforce the existing order. Keep records of every missed payment, and do not agree informally to waive payments without getting it in a court order, since informal agreements can be hard to prove later.

How long does it take to get a support order in Travis County?

It depends on whether the case is agreed or contested. In a divorce, nothing can be granted before the 60-day waiting period runs. Temporary orders can address support sooner. Contested cases involving disputed income take longer because of discovery and hearing schedules.

Should I hire a lawyer for a simple support modification?

If the parents agree on a new number, the paperwork still has to be drafted correctly and approved by the court. If they do not agree, the threshold rules and income calculations make legal guidance valuable, because an error can cost you months of relief.

Serving Child Support Clients Across Lakeway and Central Texas

The firm represents parents in Lakeway and throughout western Travis County, including Bee Cave, Rollingwood, West Lake Hills, and the neighborhoods around Lake Travis. We also serve families in Austin, Pflugerville, Manor, and Jonestown, as well as in Williamson County communities such as Cedar Park, Leander, Round Rock, Georgetown, and Hutto. In Hays County, we work with families in San Marcos, Kyle, Buda, Dripping Springs, and Wimberley, and in Bastrop County we serve Bastrop, Elgin, and Smithville. Whether a case begins as a divorce, a paternity action, or a modification of an older order, the firm handles support matters wherever the case needs to be filed across these counties.

Talk With a Lakeway Child Support Lawyer

Whether you need a first order, a change to an existing one, or enforcement against a parent who has stopped paying, a Lakeway child support lawyer at The Law Office of Oprea & Weber can walk you through the numbers and the options. You will work directly with your attorney, who will explain what the guidelines produce, where your case may depart from them, and what a realistic path looks like. Call to schedule a consultation and get a clear picture of where your family stands.