How is Child Support Calculated?
Just as with Child Custody, child support is determined by “guidelines” set up by your state’s divorce laws.
The federal Child Support Enforcement Act sets out rules that each state must follow when setting up child support guidelines. Guidelines calculate how much support will be paid based on both parents income, in most cases and their expenses.
If you live in Alabama, have 3 children and know a mom who lives in California with her 3 children it is highly possible that your child support award will differ tremendously. Even if your ex’s incomes are comparable. Support guidelines car vary significantly from state to state.
Family Court judges in some states have great discretion when deciding child support. As long as the guidelines are followed and the amount ordered by the judge doesn’t fall below state guidelines, the judge can order more than is required under the guidelines. Generally though a judge will not order child support that strays far from state guidelines.
The following factors must be taken into consideration when setting state guidelines for child support and when ordering how much child support a non-custodial parent will pay.
- The needs of the child, including health insurance, education, day care, and special needs.
- The income and needs of the custodial parent.
- The paying parent’s ability to pay.
- The child’s standard of living before divorce or separation.
At the time child support is figured both parents will be required to fill out a financial statement or provide financial information to the court so the court will have a complete picture of the financial situation of both parents.
You will be required to disclose your monthly income and your expenses.
In most situations the court will take into consideration the “standard of living” of the child before the divorce. When possible an amount of child support will be awarded that will maintain the child’s standard of living.
The courts do, however, take into consideration the expense of maintaining two households and the needs of the non-custodial paying parent. Very rarely will a divorced mom walk away with enough child support to maintain the same lifestyle she lived pre-divorce.
How Does Child Custody Affect Child Support?
This is simple and makes a lot of sense. The more time the custodial parent is responsible for the care of the child, the more child support she/he will be awarded. An example, if you are awarded sole legal and physical custody the non-custodial parent will pay the highest amount of child support allowed by your state’s guidelines.
This is where conflict can arise during the divorce process. This is where parents begin to focus on the money and their own financial well-being instead of their child’s well-being. Moms and Dads are both guilty of requesting full custody or 50/50 custody in order to either obtain more child support or pay less child support.
Do your child a favor and don’t go down that road!
Will The Courts Take Into Consideration All My Expenses When Calculating Child Support?
NO! The court considers your net income when calculating child support. If you make $6,000 a month in gross income and $5,200 a month after payroll deductions, the court calculates child support based on $5,200 a month or, your net income.
Car payments, mortgages, bar tabs, anything you owe that is not a necessity will not reduce the net income that the court takes into consideration. If you know you are going to have to pay child support, do yourself a favor and don’t go out and purchase a home with a monthly payment that is half your income.
On the other hand, if you know you are going to receive alimony don’t go out and buy a home with a mortgage payment that will use up all of or, most of your child support. It seriously makes no sense and the courts won’t take what you owe in such a capacity into consideration when decided how much needs to be paid and how much needs to be received.
If you have extra expenses keep them reasonable. If you tell the judge you can’t afford to pay because your stable fees for your horse need to be paid, be expected to be laughed out of the courtroom.
What is The Cost of Living Adjustment Clause?
A cost of living adjustment clause or “COLA” is a clause you can add to your child support order that means child support payments will increase yearly at a rate equal to an annual cost of living increase index. For example, if the non-custodial parent is military you can request a COLA clause be added to cover the annual cost of living pay increase he/she receives through military pay. If your ex is someone who receives a yearly cost of living increase in salary or a yearly bonus, a COLA clause is something you should consider.
How Do I Modify My Child Support Order?
Do NOT voluntarily change the amount you receive or pay without having a Family Court judge sign off on the adjustment. If you and your ex agree to an adjustment hire an attorney and have the attorney file a petition with the court so the judge can order a new support order that reflects the changes you desire.
If you wish an upward or downward modification in child support and your ex does not agree you will need to hire an attorney and have him/her file for a motion to modify with the Family Court.
FAQs About Child Support Calculations:
What rules do states follow when calculating child support?
States lay down child support guidelines in accordance with the rules set out by the federal Child Support Enforcement Act. The guidelines state that child support will be calculated after taking into account parents’ income and their expenses.
Do judges exercise discretion while deciding child support?
Judges do exercise discretion in calculating child support as long as the amount of the money doesn’t fall below the state guidelines. Exercising his discretion, a judge can order more child support than required under the guidelines.
How is child support determined for payment by a non-custodial parent?
The court must considers the following factors while deciding how much payment a non-custodial parent shall pay: The needs of the child, including health insurance, education, day care, and special needs; the income and needs of the custodial parent; the paying parent’s ability to pay and the child’s standard of living before divorce or separation.
Does child support require parents to fill out a financial statement?
The courts require both parents to fill out a financial statement to assess their financial situation before determining how much child support can be ordered.
Do courts consider the standard of living of a child while deciding child support?
A court will try to match the child support to the standard of living of a child whenever possible. The court, however, would also take into consideration other factors like parents’ income, needs, etc.
Do courts consider the need of a non-custodial parent while awarding child support?
Courts do consider the needs of a non-custodial parent while awarding child support. The courts would take into account the expense of maintaining two households before determining the child support payable by the non-custodial parent.
Does child custody affect child support?
A greater amount of child support will be awarded to the parent having greater share of child custody. If a parent gets sole legal and physical custody, the court will award the highest amount of child support to him or her.
Do parents seek full custody for more child support?
Parents do seek full custody or 50/50 custody in order to either get more money in child support or pay less.
What if child support causes you to be homeless whith another child under you care
Courts do not go by your net income. They calculate it off of your gross income. I know from firsthand experience.
Agreed with James. Child support is actually calculated with the gross income, not the net income.
My state does not have a net income self-support reserve when calculating child support, therefore I had to remind my family court judge that taking the maximum amount of 'child support' allowed by law (50-percent of my gross income, or 65-percent of my NET income, whichever is greater) in order to support my children and my voluntarily unemployed ex-wife would make me lose first my apartment, and then my job, which would mean that I would be homeless and unable to pay any child support.Despite what my states child support guidelines say, it takes two people to create a child, therefore providing for the child(ren)s needs should be a shared responsibility, not a requirement for the noncustodial parent to provide a government mandated lifestyle for the children, and by inference, the custodial parent.
I realize that many on this website will consider my opinion to be heretical, but before my divorce I was an involved parent. Now it feels like I'm an indentured servant that sends a support check and is allowed to visit with my children at the gatekeeping custodial parents whim.
Jon, since you don’t say what state you are in, there is no way to verify how your state handles child support. Regardless of how much child support you pay, you can still be an involved parent. That is why most states have gone to 50/50 child custody, so that both parents can be equally involved in their children’s lives.
FEDERAL LAW [TITLE 15, CHAPTER 41, Subchapter II § 1673(41)(b)] allows a judge to order a parent to pay up to 50-percent of their gross income or 65-percent of your net income (whichever is greater) as “child support”, so the state that I live in is irrelevant.
As far as custody is concerned, I have asked my family court judge for shared custody. Her reaction has been to tell me that “children belong with the mother”. Then, when I protested the amount of “child support” that I was being ordered to pay to my voluntarily unemployed ex-wife, I was told “Your wife” (NOT our children) “deserves that money” (referring to child support). This decision by this family court judge indicates to me that she thinks child support is an entitlement, and that fathers should provide a government mandated lifestyle for their children, and by inference, their ex-wives instead of sharing the responsibility for providing for their children’s needs.
I’m also so frustrated with this family court judge’s gender prejudice that I am (again) helping her opponent in the upcoming judicial election. At this point, I’m willing to take a chance with the devil that I don’t know instead of continuing to deal with the devil that I do know.
We won’t get started on the unintended consequences of the Bradley Amendment [42 US Code 666 – somehow appropriate) or the excessive interest that many states impose on child support arrears that violates federal law [42 US Code 654(21)(a)].
I live in NC I work for a utility company when storms hit ( hurricanes, tornadoes, ice storms) I have to work to keep my job, I also am a veteran I receive a percentage from the va from a roadside bomb explosion, when i served in the Military. I have 3 children from my first marriage that I love and spend time with. I get them half the time and still pay my amount of child support. I have no problem paying this I love my children there mother and I were just not compatible as we grew “ up”, we have a good relationship now. A few years ago I was dating a girl who became pregnant, I was immediately fearful, things went south fast. She took out papers had me locked up upon a court hearing the charges were dropped and found fraudulent. Long story short I go to court in Richmond County where she has a friend who works for child support. I am now in arrears for 53000 and I have to pay her 1950$ a month added on to the 1100 I’m already paying. The system is broken I cannot work myself out of debt and I’m going to be forced to work overtime or find another job at this point I’m moving in with friends and selling my vehicle to avoid screwup my credit.
John, I’m sorry for your situation, I seriously am. You do know that a man is just as responsible for impregnating a woman as the woman is for getting pregnant, don’t you? In other words, I hope going forward you make it your business to make sure a woman you have sex with doesn’t become pregnant. I am curious what role you think her friend who works for the child support agency played in your support amount? Child support is determined by state guidelines, not by people who work for a child support agency. The court hands down an order and those who are responsible via agency for collecting child support, collect child support. And, they don’t even become involved in the process unless child support is in arrears.
Wow that’s about typical for a response I thought I would receive on here and I wanted her to have an abortion immediately when she told me I already have children and I didn’t want anymore, she made the choice to continue the pregnancy so I don’t think I should be responsible. And apparently you’ve never been nor understand how the court systems work here because the courts do hear the cases if neither party can come to an agreement so I suggest you do some research and gain life experiences prior to making statements and as for her friend she made it a point to make it known who i was to the counties lawyer, they refused in anyway to work with me. Let’s not play like the systems remotely fair if you have someone you grew up with in a small town with and your best friends, and your or they are in a position to help you…… what do you really thinks going to happen…
If you wanted to hear that you don’t have to be held responsible for fathering a child, you came to the wrong website. There are plenty of men’s websites out there you can post on if it’s blame for her that you’re looking for. YOU impregnated her. Once you did that, you gave her control over whether you would have more children or not. Her not having an abortion doesn’t make her the bad guy. It makes her the one calling the shots whether you like the decision she makes or not. And, it was YOU and your sperm who put her in the position of calling the shots. As for my experience with the family court system and divorce…I have nearly 18 years experience in the divorce industry. I’m a legal investigator and have worked as a child advocate in the Tennessee courts in the past. I’m a divorce consultant who works closely with divorcing clients and their attorneys. Paying child support is not like buying a car. No one is going to “work with you.” You’re going to be ordered to pay child support based on state guidelines regardless of who knows who. When it comes to paying child support there are laws and guidelines that dictate how much someone pays. It isn’t a game of Let’s Make a Deal. When you slept with her, you knew there was the possibility of her becoming pregnant. What did you really think would happen if your sperm connected with one of her eggs?
We are very close to coming to an agreement, and haven’t needed a lawyer yet for our “amicable” divorce. I want a COLA clause, and I am having trouble finding the correct legal wording for this. Do you know of any resources that can help? Like some sample documents?
We have been single income for a decade and just don’t want to spend money on attorney fees if we don’t have to, because it will ultimately affect the kids’ lifestyles and futures.