Your children come first.
Knowing how to make that real in a Florida courtroom is something else entirely.

If your compensation includes a salary plus bonuses, commissions, or overtime, the income number going into the child support formula is not just your W-2. Florida courts look at all sources of income — and the other side will argue for the highest number they can support. Whether last year's bonus was a one-time event or a recurring expectation is the kind of argument that determines the outcome.

How those numbers get framed matters. A performance bonus in a strong year, a one-time retention payment, overtime that won't repeat — all of it can be argued as non-recurring income that shouldn't be included in the base calculation. Getting those distinctions right from the start protects you from an obligation built on a number that doesn't reflect your normal financial picture.

Allyson has argued income calculations across Pasco, Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Hernando counties for over thirty years. She gives you the real calculation in the first meeting — not a range, a number.

If you work in the trades — HVAC, electrical, plumbing, construction — your income isn't a flat line. Busy seasons, slow winters, a big commercial job that won't repeat, overtime that fluctuates week to week. When a child support calculation is built on a snapshot of your highest-earning period, the obligation it produces can follow you through the slow months when earnings drop.

Florida law accounts for seasonal variation — but only if someone argues it. The court is supposed to look at average income over a reasonable period, not just last year's gross. How that averaging gets done, which months get included, and how seasonal work patterns are documented all affect the outcome.

Allyson knows how to build the income picture for a tradesperson accurately — not inflated, not deflated, but the number that reflects what you actually earn in a typical year. That's the number the formula should run on.

When income is complicated — deferred compensation, RSUs, stock options, executive benefits, ownership distributions from a dealership or agency — the child support calculation starts with a number that takes real effort to get right. For a corporate VP, a regional director, a car dealership owner, or an insurance agency principal, the W-2 is only the beginning. The rest of the compensation structure — and how the other side argues it — determines the number the formula runs on.

Service business owners — dealerships, insurance agencies, real estate agencies — face a specific income attribution challenge. The book of business has value. Owner distributions don't always reflect what the business actually generates as take-home income. How renewal commissions, inventory financing costs, and agency fees are treated affects the income figure the court uses — and that figure drives the support calculation.

Allyson has represented executives and business owners through complex child support disputes across Tampa Bay. She has the forensic accounting relationships to move carefully on income attribution. The income picture is more complex here, and she handles that complexity with the same care and diligence that she handles everything else.

For nurses, CRNAs, physician's assistants, and employed physicians, child support runs on income — and healthcare income is rarely just a base salary. Shift differentials, on-call pay, sign-on bonuses, overtime, and retirement contributions all affect the net income figure the formula uses. The other side will argue for the highest number they can support. Getting the right number into the calculation requires someone who understands how healthcare compensation is actually structured.

The same income characterization issues that arise in alimony apply to child support. A one-time bonus, a travel nursing contract that ended, a temporary assignment — these are non-recurring and shouldn't anchor an obligation that runs for years. Florida courts are required to look at earning capacity over a reasonable period, not just the best year on record.

Allyson has argued income calculations for healthcare professionals across Pasco, Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Hernando counties for over thirty years. She gives you the real number in the first meeting.

If you own a medical or dental practice — solo, partnership, or specialty group, your reported income and your actual take-home income are rarely the same number. Practice expenses, equipment depreciation, partnership distributions, and retained earnings all affect what shows up on a tax return. The court understands this — and so does the other side, who will argue for the highest income figure they can construct.

Florida courts may impute income to a practice owner based on the assets of the practice, lifestyle indicators, and earning capacity — not simply what the K-1 or Schedule C reports. A forensic accountant who understands medical practice financials is often necessary to present the income picture accurately and challenge what the other side puts forward.

Allyson has represented physicians and dentists through complex child support disputes across Tampa Bay. She has the forensic accounting relationships to move carefully on income attribution — and she understands how the child support calculation interacts with the broader financial picture in a medical practice divorce.

When you own a business, your reported income and your actual income are rarely the same number. Business expenses reduce taxable income. Owner distributions don't always match what the business generates. A good year gets reinvested. The tax return is a document built for the IRS — not a child support calculation. The court understands this, which means the other side will argue for an income figure higher than your return shows.

Florida courts can impute income to a business owner based on the assets of the business, the lifestyle it supports, and what the owner could reasonably be expected to draw. That imputed number — not what you chose to pay yourself — can become the basis for the support calculation if it isn't argued carefully.

Allyson has relationships with forensic accountants who understand small business financials and how to present an accurate income picture to the court. The goal is a number that reflects what the business actually produces as take-home income — not what the other side wants it to be.

Florida's child support guidelines cover combined monthly net income up to a ceiling that more parents hit than expect to — physicians, engineers, dual-income households with strong overtime, business owners with consistent distributions. When combined income exceeds that ceiling, Florida law doesn't cap the support at the guideline maximum. It applies specific percentages to the excess amount above the ceiling.

The above-ceiling calculation gives the court discretion — and discretion means argument. What the children's actual needs are, what lifestyle they're accustomed to, what extraordinary expenses are involved — these all factor into what a court will order on the income above the guideline ceiling. The numbers can be significant, and so is how they're argued.

Allyson has handled high-income child support cases across Tampa Bay. She understands both sides of the calculation — the ceiling, the excess, and the practical question of what the children actually need versus what the formula produces.