Child support in Las Cruces is defined as court-ordered payments, typically made by a non-custodial divorced parent, to support one’s minor child or children. With child support there are two different types of custody, legal custody and physical custody.
Legal custody refers to making the major decisions of the children, whereas physical custody is where the children live for most of the time. Both of these types of custody have options, either sole or joint custody. Sole custody is where one parent makes the important decisions and/or is the provider of shelter for the children. Joint custody is where both parents are in charge of making the decisions and provide shelter for the children for an equal amount of time.
If one parent happens to have sole physical custody of the children, then the other parent does have visitation rights. The most common type of visitation is unsupervised visitation. This where the parent spends time with the children, either taking them out to eat, going places or bringing them back to their house for a visit. Supervised visitation is where a responsible adult is there with the other parent when the children are with them. And the last type of visitation is virtual visitation. This involves video chatting, messaging and email over a computer with the children.
In the state of New Mexico, the way that child support payments are calculated is different from the other 49 states. Parents must support a minor until the age of 18 or 19, if the minor is still enrolled in high school. And like in most states, child support payments are based on salaries of the parents, commissions, bonuses and other factors contributing to gross income.
If you would like to know more information about child support in Las Cruces, feel free to contact the Aranda Law Firm today by calling 575.386.5100.
