Divorce Child Support

Divorce Papers > Divorce Child Support

A divorce is a life-changing decision that affects the life of the parents and their children to a large extent. When parents chose to split from each other, the whole family is broken. This decision affects the financial condition of the family also. It is a known fact that members of a broken family have to bear more expenses as compared to members who live together. In the context of a divorce, a divorcing couple has to spend much, and thus they find it difficult to bear all the expenses. If there are children from the marriage, one parent has to pay for the child support. If the partners are not able to decide the amount and method of payments of the support, they have to take the help of court. The state court will take the final decision regarding divorce child support and the parents have to abide by the guidelines accordingly.

Some pertinent points

Every state in the US has chalked its own guidelines related to child support. As a result there are some state-laws variations to these laws. Some of the common factors of this matter are elaborated here:

• Divorcing partners can attempt to make child maintenance an uncontested one. They have to reach to a mutual agreement, and if this agreement is accepted by the court, the partners can act accordingly without any legal hassles. This agreement must be made a part of the Marital Separation Agreement.
• If the parents are unable to reach a consensus , the court will interfere and issue the child support orders.
• The non-custodial parent will be ordered to make a direct payment to the other parent. This payment is made to bear the expenses of the basic necessities of the child.
• The conditions of the child maintenance are subjected to change at certain times. For example, the necessities of the child may change along with the passage of time. During such times, the parents can file a petition in order to make the required changes in the support order.
• When the child reaches maturity, the non-custodial parent need not make the payments anymore. This is also true in case of the death of the child.
• A court having the proper jurisdiction can order this type of support. The court should have personal jurisdiction over the individual who will pay for the maintenance amount.
• If a valid support order is entered, the particular state where the case is fought, will continue to have the power to order child subsidy.

Expenses included in Divorce Child Support

The payment of child subsidy amount should suffice for the following expenses of the children:

• Medication
• Education
• Clothing
• Shelter
• Food

Accordingly, the court dwells on the following issues while deciding this award:

• The custodial parent's earning ability
• The paying capacity of the non-custodial parent
• The child's age: Older children would need more money as compared to infants and young children
• The requirements of the child: A healthy child is in need of less money as compared to a mentally disabled or sickly child.

How to calculate Divorce Child Support

• First, the gross monthly income of each parent is found out.
• The following deductions are made to the above value:
  • Child support and spousal support paid to a third-party
  • Medical insurance disbursed to the child
• The value obtained in this way is the adjusted income.
• Each parent's adjusted income is divided by the combined gross income. This will yield the percentages of each parent.
• The guidelines table of the relevant state is referred to and the basic child support amount is found out.
• The following values are added to the above amount:
  • Educational costs
  • Extraordinary medical costs
  • Work related child care costs
• This amount is called the total support obligation.
• The total support obligation is multiplied by the percentages of each parent. The two amounts so obtained are to be disbursed by each parent.
• If the parents share physical custody of the children, a different method has to be used.
• The amount obtained by such calculations is rebuttable.

All the information mentioned above will help you in order to understand the general aspects of your case.

Here are some topics associated with divorce child support:

• Guidelines for child support with important aspects have been explained
• Various factors affecting the payments for child support with modifications have been detailed
• Vital data that needs to be entered to the calculator estimating the child support payment has been displayed
• Specification and importance of child support agreement
• Child support and taxes - How will child support affect your taxes?
• child support Basic facts to remember
• The basic concept to order a child support
• What is process of child support decision and its impact
• Guideline for child support eligibility
• Information on child support enforcement agencies
• Child support enforcement and how does it work?
• Guidance of child support factors
• General faq for child support
• Child support law - Provide guideline to all matter related to child support
• overview and provisions for college child support
• Information on law to Modify child support
• Unpaid child support
• Calculation of payment for issues of child support involving military hav been noted

The United States of America has fifty states and all these states have laid down different child maintenance guidelines and rules pertaining to payment modes. Thus having a fair idea of the divorce child support of your state is important so that you are not misguided. Click on each of the states mentioned below to know more about the child subsidy laws and guidelines of that state:

Divorce Papers