West Virginia Child Custody & West Virginia Child Support

UPDATED: Jul 16, 2021

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Jeffrey Johnson

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Jeffrey Johnson is a legal writer with a focus on personal injury. He has worked on personal injury and sovereign immunity litigation in addition to experience in family, estate, and criminal law. He earned a J.D. from the University of Baltimore and has worked in legal offices and non-profits in Maryland, Texas, and North Carolina. He has also earned an MFA in screenwriting from Chapman Univer...

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UPDATED: Jul 16, 2021

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It’s all about you. We want to help you make the right legal decisions.

We strive to help you make confident insurance and legal decisions. Finding trusted and reliable insurance quotes and legal advice should be easy. This doesn’t influence our content. Our opinions are our own.

Editorial Guidelines: We are a free online resource for anyone interested in learning more about legal topics and insurance. Our goal is to be an objective, third-party resource for everything legal and insurance related. We update our site regularly, and all content is reviewed by experts.

UPDATED: Jul 16, 2021

Advertiser Disclosure

It’s all about you. We want to help you make the right legal decisions.

We strive to help you make confident insurance and legal decisions. Finding trusted and reliable insurance quotes and legal advice should be easy. This doesn’t influence our content. Our opinions are our own.

UPDATED: Jul 16, 2021Fact Checked

West Virginia courts, like family courts in all states, prefer that divorcing parents work together on the details of raising their children because, in the long run, a cooperative agreement is typically in the best interests of the children. If the parents cannot come to such an agreement, however, the court will step in and decide issues of child custody, visitation, and child support with the best interests of the children in mind. The following are the laws governing West Virginia child custody and support.

 

West Virginia Child Custody:

West Virginia courts determine all custody issues in terms of the best interests of the children. The court will consider all relevant facts and give the father and mother the same consideration regardless of the child’s sex or age. Either a sole or joint custody decision will be reached. The factors the court will consider include, among others: the children’s age, their health, their wishes, the parental roles, and other needs of the children.

West Virginia Child Support:

Child support in West Virginia is determined in accordance with the Income Shares Model for child support, where each parent’s income is considered in relative proportion. The support amounts calculated from each parent then help decide which parent must pay the other in order to maintain the correct proportion and provide for the needs of the child.

These guidelines are not always followed, but a decision to follow a different standard will require supportive evidence showing 1) all the factors that affect the parties’ financial obligations differently, and 2) how applying a standard other than the Income Shares Model will more effectively preserve the best interests of the child.

The factors that can be considered here are numerous, including, but not limited to:

  1. Monetary support provided for other family members
  2. Debts arising during the marriage for the child’s benefit
  3. Imputed income to a party who is voluntarily unemployed for the child’s benefit
  4. Court-ordered payments for health care and education for the child’s benefit
  5. Children’s independent financial resources, if any
  6. Education, training, and/or career opportunities of the parties and/or ability to pursue those things
  7. A written agreement between the parties including the amount of child support, if one exists

A lawyer can help you sort through your rights and responsibilities when it comes to raising your children after a divorce, and can also serve as your advocate and/or counsel when negotiating a parenting agreement. You can find a lawyer at:

West Virginia Divorce/Child Support/Child Custody Lawyers:

Find an experienced West Virginia Divorce Attorney at AttorneyPages.com
Find an experienced Child Support Lawyer or Custody Lawyer at AttorneyPages.com
Post your case to a West Virginia Divorce Lawyer
How a Family Lawyer Can Help

West Virginia Divorce Laws: Click below to find the West Virginia Divorce laws you’re looking for: 

West Virginia Divorce Law, Lawyers & Attorneys
West Virginia Divorce & Separation
West Virginia Divorce & Finances
West Virginia Divorce Laws & Resources

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Jeffrey Johnson

Insurance Lawyer

Jeffrey Johnson is a legal writer with a focus on personal injury. He has worked on personal injury and sovereign immunity litigation in addition to experience in family, estate, and criminal law. He earned a J.D. from the University of Baltimore and has worked in legal offices and non-profits in Maryland, Texas, and North Carolina. He has also earned an MFA in screenwriting from Chapman Univer...

Insurance Lawyer

Editorial Guidelines: We are a free online resource for anyone interested in learning more about legal topics and insurance. Our goal is to be an objective, third-party resource for everything legal and insurance related. We update our site regularly, and all content is reviewed by experts.

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