Child Support Lawyers in Hays
County & Austin

Child support help for Austin and Hays County parents

Child support usually comes up in one of three ways: a divorce with children, a child custody case between parents who never married, or a request to change an order that no longer fits. If you and the other parent were never married, the court needs a legal father before it can order support, so many cases begin with establishing paternity and then settle custody and support in the same suit.

An original child support case is generally filed in the county where your child lives. Most Austin child support cases are filed in Travis County, while families in Buda, Kyle, and San Marcos file in Hays County. You can meet with us at our office on West Avenue in Austin or at our Buda office on FM 967, whichever is closer to home.

How Texas child support guidelines work

Texas sets child support with the child support guidelines in Family Code Section 154.125. The court applies a percentage to the monthly net resources of the parent ordered to pay child support, called the obligor. The percentage depends on how many children are before the court:

• One child: 20 percent
• Two children: 25 percent
• Three children: 30 percent
• Four children: 35 percent
• Five children: 40 percent
• Six or more children: at least the five-child amount

So if a parent’s net resources come to $5,000 a month and there is one child, guideline support is $1,000 a month. With two children it is $1,250. Under Section 154.122, an order that follows the guidelines is presumed to be reasonable and in the child’s best interest, so the guideline figure is where almost every case starts.

A lower schedule applies when the paying parent’s net resources are under $1,000 a month, starting at 15 percent for one child. When the paying parent also supports children in another household, Section 154.129 provides an adjusted table that lowers the percentage for the children in this case.

Net resources and the $11,700 cap

Net resources is the number that drives everything else, so it is where many child support disagreements begin. Under Section 154.062, resources include wages, salary, overtime, commissions, tips, bonuses, self-employment income, net rental income, interest, dividends, retirement and severance pay, and other income a parent actually receives. The court then subtracts Social Security taxes, federal income tax figured as if the parent were single, union dues, and the cost of the child’s health and dental insurance. A new spouse’s income is never added in (Section 154.069).

Two rules matter when income is hard to pin down, such as with self-employment, commissions, or a recent job change. If a parent is intentionally unemployed or underemployed, the court may set support based on what that parent could earn (Section 154.066). If there is no evidence of a parent’s income at all, the court presumes the parent earns the federal minimum wage for a 40-hour week (Section 154.068).

The percentages apply only up to a monthly cap on net resources. The Texas Attorney General adjusts that cap every six years for inflation, and on September 1, 2025 it rose from $9,200 to $11,700. For one child, that puts presumptive guideline support at $2,340 a month. When a parent earns more than the cap, the court can order additional support only on proof of the child’s needs beyond the guideline amount (Section 154.126). Child support orders signed before the change do not adjust on their own, which is one reason parents with older orders have them reviewed.

Medical and dental support

Every Texas child support order also has to cover the child’s health care and dental care. The court looks first to insurance available through a parent’s job at a reasonable cost, which the Family Code defines as premiums of no more than 9 percent of the paying parent’s annual resources for health coverage and 1.5 percent for dental coverage. If reasonable health coverage is not available, the court orders the paying parent to pay cash medical support of up to 9 percent of annual resources instead.

These amounts are separate child support obligations on top of guideline support, and they can be enforced the same way (Section 154.183). The order also splits the child’s uninsured health care costs, like copays, deductibles, and vision or dental bills, between the parents. Read that part closely before you sign an agreement, because it often costs more over the years than the premium does.

When the court sets a different amount

The guidelines are a presumption, not a mandate. A court can order more or less when the evidence shows the guideline amount would be unjust or inappropriate. Section 154.123 lists the factors, including the child’s age and needs, each parent’s ability to contribute, child care costs that let a parent work, the amount of time the child spends with each parent, and the cost of travel for visitation. Because possession time is one of those factors, child support and custody and visitation arrangements are usually worked out together, whether in a divorce or a separate custody suit.

Parents can also agree on their own number. Under Section 154.124, the court will approve a written agreement it finds is in the child’s best interest, even if the amount differs from the guidelines. Before you agree to an amount outside the guidelines, keep in mind that it can be harder to change later, because the three-year review described below does not apply to it.

How long child support lasts

Texas child support generally continues until the child turns 18 or graduates from high school, whichever comes later, as long as the child stays enrolled and meets attendance rules (Sections 154.001 and 154.002). It ends earlier if the child marries or is otherwise emancipated. If a child has a disability that exists before age 18 and requires substantial care and personal supervision, the court can order support for an indefinite period (Section 154.302).

Changing a child support order

Life rarely holds still for 18 years. Under Section 156.401, a court can modify child support when circumstances have materially and substantially changed since the order was signed, such as a job loss, a large raise, a change in where the child lives, or new medical needs. A second path opens after three years: if the order is at least three years old and the current amount differs from the guideline amount by 20 percent or $100, the court can update it on that basis alone.

Timing matters here too. A new amount can only reach back to the date the other parent was served with the modification suit or appeared in it, and until a judge signs a new order, the old amount stays in effect. If your income or your child’s needs have changed, we can help you ask the court for a modification of the existing order before the gap grows.

When a parent does not pay child support

Missed child support payments do not go away. Unpaid support collects 6 percent simple interest a year (Section 157.265), and Texas support orders usually include income withholding that can take up to 50 percent of the paying parent’s disposable earnings (Section 158.009). The court can hold a parent in contempt and confirm the unpaid amount as a money judgment, and the court or the Attorney General can suspend driver’s and professional licenses when three months or more of support is overdue and a repayment schedule has not been followed.

Deadlines apply. A motion asking the court for contempt must be filed within two years after the child becomes an adult or the support obligation ends, and a request for a money judgment on the arrears must be filed within ten years (Section 157.005). If you are owed support, enforcing the court order starts with an accurate record of what was ordered and what was actually paid.

Meeting with an Austin child support lawyer

You do not need everything figured out before you meet with a child support attorney. It helps to bring recent pay stubs, your last two years of tax returns, the cost of your child’s health and dental insurance, child care costs, and any current order. With those, we can run the guideline numbers with you, check whether medical support and any departures from the guidelines are handled correctly, and talk through whether your case is likely to settle or will need a hearing.

Questions about cost are normal. Fees depend mostly on whether the other parent agrees, how much income evidence has to be gathered, and whether the case goes to a hearing, so ask about fees when you schedule. If you would like to talk through your situation, you can request a consultation with Key Law Office using the form below.