how is child support determined by income or can you agree on an amount

Child support is determined using the Florida Child Support guidelines worksheet. The net monthly income of each party is input, along with the number of children, day car expenses, health insurance and the number of days each parent has over nights with the children. The child support must be calculated by the guidelines, and the parties can deviate by 5% up or down without an explanation. If you wish to deviate more than 5% up or down, you must provide the judge with reasons that can be spelled out in a final judgment. For example if the parties live far apart and one parent incurs all the driving, then you could agree on a reduction to compensate that parent. As such there is a degree of flexibility in which you can agree to deviate from guidelines, but there still must be a guideline worksheet completed and filed and the court must follow the guidelines or explain why there is a deviation.