How does a Texas Court establish child support?
If the obligor’s net monthly resources exceed $6,000.00 per month, the Trial Court must determine if the child requires a straight percentage according to the foregoing guidelines, or if doing so would maintain the spouse seeking custody in a style to which they have become accustomed, as opposed to being necessary to maintain the child. In the Rodriguez (36 TSCJ 90), the Texas Supreme Court recently held that “additional” child support awarded from an obligor’s income that exceeds $4,000.00 per month (the “cap” on the application of the percentages provided for in the child support guidelines until August 31, 1993) must be based SOLELY on the needs of the child at the time of the order. As the court notes: “We therefore conclude that ‘needs of the child’ includes more than the bare necessities of life, but is not determined by the parents’ ability to pay or the lifestyle of the family. In determining the needs of the child, we direct courts to continue to follow the paramount guiding
