Douglasville and Atlanta Family Law Attorneys

Parents facing a custody case almost always ask the same question early: how much will child support be? Georgia answers with a formula called the income shares model . The idea is simple — a child should receive the same proportion of parental income they would have received if the parents lived together. The court combines both parents' gross monthly incomes, looks up the basic child support obligation for that combined income on Georgia's official schedule, and then divides that obligation between the parents in proportion to what each one earns. Here's a simplified example: if one parent earns $4,000 a month and the other earns $2,000, their combined income is $6,000 — meaning one parent is responsible for roughly two-thirds of the support obligation and the other for one-third. The parent without primary physical custody typically pays their share to the custodial parent, who is presumed to spend their share directly on the child. Gross income is defined broadly: salary, commissions, bonuses, self-employment income, rental income, and more all count — and a parent who is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed can have income imputed to them based on earning capacity. The base formula is only the starting point. Georgia adds adjustments for health insurance premiums and work-related childcare costs , and judges may apply deviations up or down for things like extraordinary medical or educational expenses, travel costs for visitation, and parenting time — for example, when the noncustodial parent has the child a substantial portion of the time. This is where cases are won and lost: two families with identical incomes can end up with very different support orders depending on how these adjustments and deviations are argued. Georgia provides an online child support calculator, but plugging in numbers is not the same as knowing which numbers to plug in — or which deviations to fight for.  At Chisolm Trimble & Associates, LLC, we help parents in Douglasville and Metro Atlanta ensure support orders are accurate and fair, whether you'll be paying or receiving. Call 770-741-1570 or visit www.chisolmtrimblelaw.com to schedule a consultation.

If your case involves custody in Georgia — whether it's a divorce, a legitimation action, or a modification — the court will require a parenting plan before it enters a final order. A parenting plan is the detailed roadmap for how you and the other parent will raise your child in two households. Parents can submit a plan together if they agree, or each parent can submit their own proposal and let the judge decide. Either way, no custody case in Georgia is complete without one. Georgia law requires a parenting plan to address specific topics: where the child will spend weekdays, weekends, holidays, birthdays, and school breaks; how and where custody exchanges will happen; how transportation will be handled; how parents will make major decisions about education, healthcare, religion, and extracurricular activities; and which parent has final decision-making authority in each area if the parents disagree. The plan must also acknowledge that a close, continuing relationship with both parents is generally in the child's best interests. The most common mistake parents make is submitting a vague plan. "Reasonable visitation as agreed by the parties" might sound cooperative, but it's an invitation to conflict — because when the relationship sours, "reasonable" means something different to each parent. A strong parenting plan anticipates friction points before they happen: who gets Thanksgiving in even years, what happens when a holiday conflicts with a regular weekend, how much notice is required for schedule changes, and how parents will communicate (many Georgia courts now encourage co-parenting apps that keep a written record). A well-drafted parenting plan is one of the best investments you can make in your post-divorce life — it prevents the small disputes that send families back to court.  At Chisolm Trimble & Associates, LLC, we draft and negotiate parenting plans for families across Douglasville and Metro Atlanta that hold up in real life, not just on paper. Call 770-741-1570 or visit www.chisolmtrimblelaw.com to get started.