Dallas, TX family law attorney Holly Draper explains which parent is responsible for child support in Texas. She explains that either parent—or sometimes neither—may be responsible for paying child support, depending largely on the possession schedule the parents share with the child. The Texas Family Code primarily provides for one type of possession schedule with two variations: a standard possession order or an expanded standard possession order. In these scenarios, one parent is designated as the primary parent, while the non-primary parent is generally required to pay child support. The Family Code outlines guidelines for calculating child support under these orders, typically based on a percentage of the non-primary parent’s income, up to a cap—currently the first $92,200 in net resources, which roughly corresponds to $150,000–$160,000, though this can vary.

For a 50/50 possession schedule, the Family Code does not provide specific guidance on child support. In practice, the firm often uses an offset method: calculating what each parent would owe under the guidelines and then having the higher-earning parent pay the difference. If both parents earn roughly the same income, then generally neither parent pays child support to the other under a 50/50 schedule.