After having served for 8 years as a Family Court Judge in Fayette County, I returned to private law practice. As a Judge, I was responsible for thousands of child support matters every year, and I learned that even though a lot of money was on the line, most people who came to court had very little knowledge or understanding about Kentucky child support law. Especially when there is more than one child, the child support in question was often more than the monthly rent or mortgage!
Because of this shocking lack of understanding, and because I am not aware of any similar program, I am pleased to be able to present this free series of lessons that will familiarize the lay person with the essentials of Kentucky child support. You have already seen my list of the 25 most common questions about child support. I will present through this blog my answers to those questions, two or three at a time, over the next several weeks.
Before we begin, let me state the obvious. I will offer my knowledge and my insight as a former Family Court Judge concerning Kentucky Child Support Law in this series, and I am not creating an attorney-client relationship by this offering. Feel free to use this information as you will, but understand that I am not presenting any opinions as the attorney for the reader. I am not giving legal advice to anyone here, but am simply explaining in general terms the law regarding Kentucky Child Support.
Kentucky Child Support is governed by statutes enacted by the Kentucky Legislature, by rulings made by appellate courts which interpret those statutes and by rules enacted by local courts and the Supreme Court of Kentucky. These laws change from time to time as new statutes are enacted, new appellate court rulings are rendered and new rules are promulgated. The information I will present in this series applies to the law in general as it stands as of April 15, 2015. I do not necessarily intend to update this series as the law evolves, so the reader should keep that in mind as he or she considers and uses the materials I am now presenting.
One final word of caution - many of these laws are the subject of great debate and controversy among lawyers and even among judges. There is often room for interpretation as cases frequently present different versions of contested facts, and each judge looks at evidence from his or her own unique perspective. When in doubt about a Kentucky child support issue, do not rely on what you read here - consult a lawyer! SCR 3.130(1.1) of the Kentucky Code of Professional Conduct requires that a lawyer provide "competent representation to a client" which includes "legal knowledge, skill, thoroughness and preparation reasonably necessary for the representation." The lessons presented here are an overview, and more understanding of the laws, and the procedures required to present an argument in court, may well be required to achieve the desired result in the event of a dispute.
In this series, we will consider a generic married couple, Mother and Father, and their two children, Jr. and Sissy. The law concerning unmarried parents will be discussed more specifically in the very last Lesson, No. 25, but most of what is presented in the other 24 Lessons will apply to them as well.
Thanks for working through these Lessons. I hope they are beneficial to you.
Because of this shocking lack of understanding, and because I am not aware of any similar program, I am pleased to be able to present this free series of lessons that will familiarize the lay person with the essentials of Kentucky child support. You have already seen my list of the 25 most common questions about child support. I will present through this blog my answers to those questions, two or three at a time, over the next several weeks.
Before we begin, let me state the obvious. I will offer my knowledge and my insight as a former Family Court Judge concerning Kentucky Child Support Law in this series, and I am not creating an attorney-client relationship by this offering. Feel free to use this information as you will, but understand that I am not presenting any opinions as the attorney for the reader. I am not giving legal advice to anyone here, but am simply explaining in general terms the law regarding Kentucky Child Support.
Kentucky Child Support is governed by statutes enacted by the Kentucky Legislature, by rulings made by appellate courts which interpret those statutes and by rules enacted by local courts and the Supreme Court of Kentucky. These laws change from time to time as new statutes are enacted, new appellate court rulings are rendered and new rules are promulgated. The information I will present in this series applies to the law in general as it stands as of April 15, 2015. I do not necessarily intend to update this series as the law evolves, so the reader should keep that in mind as he or she considers and uses the materials I am now presenting.
One final word of caution - many of these laws are the subject of great debate and controversy among lawyers and even among judges. There is often room for interpretation as cases frequently present different versions of contested facts, and each judge looks at evidence from his or her own unique perspective. When in doubt about a Kentucky child support issue, do not rely on what you read here - consult a lawyer! SCR 3.130(1.1) of the Kentucky Code of Professional Conduct requires that a lawyer provide "competent representation to a client" which includes "legal knowledge, skill, thoroughness and preparation reasonably necessary for the representation." The lessons presented here are an overview, and more understanding of the laws, and the procedures required to present an argument in court, may well be required to achieve the desired result in the event of a dispute.
In this series, we will consider a generic married couple, Mother and Father, and their two children, Jr. and Sissy. The law concerning unmarried parents will be discussed more specifically in the very last Lesson, No. 25, but most of what is presented in the other 24 Lessons will apply to them as well.
Thanks for working through these Lessons. I hope they are beneficial to you.
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