You have run the numbers. The real question is whether they will hold.
You are here with a number and the worry behind it: paying too much, or taking too little. The calculators here are free, and they stay free. For many people the estimate is close, the case is simple, and no lawyer is needed; we will tell you so. But the figure a court enters, or the one you agree to, turns on facts a calculator never sees. That gap, between a fair result and a costly one, is wide.
The calculator estimates the amount. The strategy determines the outcome.
Where the real number comes from
A guideline figure assumes a tidy case. Most are not. Earning capacity and underemployment; self-employment and cash income; the date of separation; custody overnights; health insurance and childcare; grounds for deviation; whether the order can be modified later. Any one of these can move the number in either direction, and over an order that runs for years, an early mistake only grows.
Why the first conference is worth preparing for
Support is often set early, at a conference, and that first hour shapes everything after it. Walk in prepared — right figures, clear position, deviations and credits already identified — and the matter can settle there, sparing you the hearing, the months under a wrong number, and the fees that pile up when a case drifts. This is not the place to be penny-wise and pound-foolish: focused counsel at the start usually pays for itself within months of the order.
An hour with the attorney, on your actual numbers
Often the question is simple: is my number right, and what do I do next? That is Strategy Session work. Bring your figures; we run them with the inputs that matter, go through the result with an attorney instead of a formula, and lay out your next move. You hire us, and you work with us, with no handoff and no learning curve on your file. A focused half hour is often enough for the single question; the full hour gets to the bottom of a support matter. A half-hour session can be extended when the matter turns out to need it.
Information is free. Strategy is individual.
A free ten-minute call will tell you whether a session is worth it, or whether you need one at all.