If you are faced with complicated child support issues, you need an experienced child support lawyer to protect your interests. At the Clayton, Missouri, Law Office of Amy L. Gervich, we have extensive experience in these matters and will work closely with you to help you receive a fair outcome in your case.
While these issues can become very contentious, we remain focused on protecting your child’s best interests. We help both mothers and fathers throughout Greater St. Louis who are seeking to establish or contest parental rights after a divorce.
Missouri uses the income shares model under Missouri Supreme Court Rule 88.01 and RSMo § 452.340, which assumes children should receive the same proportion of parental income they would have if both parents lived together. Both parents’ gross monthly incomes are combined and applied to the state’s Schedule of Basic Child Support Obligations (Form 14) to determine a presumed support amount, which is then split proportionally based on each parent’s share of that combined income. The Missouri Supreme Court issued an updated Form 14 effective January 1, 2026, so it’s worth having a current calculation reviewed even if you’ve looked into this before.
Beyond the base amount, the calculation factors in each parent’s amount of parenting time, work-related childcare costs, and the child’s health insurance premiums. Courts treat the Form 14 result as a rebuttable presumption — meaning it’s presumed correct, but a judge can deviate from it when the calculated result would be unjust given the specific facts of your case.
At the Law Office of Amy L. Gervich, our dedicated family law lawyer will provide quality personal service and help our clients with a broad range of matters related to child support, including:
Missouri uses the income shares model, combining both parents’ gross monthly incomes and applying them to the state’s Form 14 Schedule of Basic Child Support Obligations. The presumed amount is then divided between the parents based on their share of the combined income, and adjusted for parenting time, childcare costs, and health insurance. We can walk you through what this looks like for your specific numbers.
Nearly all income counts, including wages, self-employment income, bonuses, commissions, and other regular sources of income. Getting the income figures right on both sides is one of the most common places disputes arise, and it’s worth having an attorney review the numbers before an agreement is finalized.
Under RSMo § 452.370, a substantial and continuing change in circumstances is required to modify an existing order. If applying current Form 14 guidelines to your present financial situation produces an amount that differs from your existing order by 20% or more, that difference alone establishes a presumption that the existing terms are unreasonable and should be changed.
Not automatically. Even with equal parenting time, if there’s a significant gap between the parents’ incomes, the higher-earning parent may still owe support to help equalize the child’s standard of living across both households. The calculation accounts for parenting time, but income differences still factor in.
Generally until the child turns 18, or 21 if they’re enrolled full-time in secondary or post-secondary education. Support can end earlier if the child marries, joins the military, or becomes self-supporting, and can be addressed differently in cases involving a child with a disability.
Before any child support agreement can be worked out, paternity needs to be established. At the Law Office of Amy L. Gervich, we represent both mothers and fathers in paternity cases, mothers who are seeking to establish the legal father of the child and fathers who want to exercise their parental rights or defend themselves against false paternity claims. Once paternity is determined, we can begin ascertaining the proper levels of child support.
Our child support lawyer has extensive experience in these cases and will keep you informed throughout the entire process so you’ll always know what options are available to you. Contact us online or call 314-501-7537 today to learn more about how we can help you resolve your child support issues.
