New Hampshire Child Support

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In New Hampshire 'child support obligation' means the total support amount that the obliged parent is ordered by the court to pay in money to the custodial parent or guardian. Every child in this state has the right to get financial support from both parents even when they are legally divorced. The support money is used to meet the basic expenses of raising the child. New Hampshire divorce child support obligations are continued until the child becomes a high school graduate or turns 18 years old, whichever happens last. A non-custodial parent has to pay 25% of their net income for one child, 33% for two children, 40% for three children and 45% for four or more children.

The Child Support guidelines of this state take into account two factors:

• The adjusted income of each parent after consideration of permissible deductions
• The number of children who are to be supported

Let us assume that the gross income of a specific parent is less than the amount the guidelines permits as 'self support reserve’. Moreover, this parent is voluntarily underemployed or unemployed. In such a case, 50 USD must be paid as the support amount.

Deviation from Guidelines in New Hampshire Divorce Child Support

As per the law of this state, the court is empowered to deviate from the amount obtained from the guidelines. Some of the circumstances when this deviation is permissible are mentioned here:

• Shared or split custody
• State tax obligations
• After due consideration of the federal tax consequences of any support order, optimization of after tax income of both parents is done.
• If the marital residence is disposed for the benefit of the child; its economic consequences on either parent is also considered.
• Are the travel costs for visitation extraordinary?
• Are there any stepchildren or stepparents involved?
• Does any parent have considerably low or high income?
• Are there any extraordinary educational, dental or medical costs of a child?
• Any other special conditions

The last point implies that the above list does not include all the conditions. If any parent alleges any justifiable reason for deviation, the court may take it into account. However, this parent must submit proof regarding the special condition.

Services in New Hampshire Divorce Child Support

• The Child Support Services in this state assists the families to make an application for, to disburse and to receive child support.
• The families that receive TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) benefits are automatically offered these services.
• In case of families, other than those mentioned above, an application has to be submitted to the DHHS (Department of Health and Human Services) District Office.
• No fees are charged for these services.
• Although, one of the parents does not reside in this state, still the services can be availed. Now, if one of the parents lives in another state that levies fees, then the apt fees must be paid.
• In order to make an application for these services, the parent must ring or visit or send an email to the DHHS office.

The Division of Child Support Services in New Hampshire helps divorced parents with the following services:

• Locating parents who have to provide the support amount.
• Enforcing legal orders
• Establishing paternity
• Disbursing support amount received on behalf of any child/children in a relevant case
• Establishing medical and financial orders through New Hampshire courts
• If the non-custodial parent is not residing in this state, the DCSS will work with other states in order to establish and enforce support orders.
• Reviewing orders

The issue of Paternity

If the paternity of the child is established, only then the employees of the child support office can start establishment of a child support order. When paternity is undecided, these employees can assist the parents to determine paternity by one of the following methods:

• Court ordered genetic testing
• Voluntary Acknowledgement of Paternity

Some fathers desire to solve the issue of paternity voluntarily. These fathers must approach one of the following places to obtain the forms to complete an Affidavit of Paternity.

• The town clerk's office
• The hospital where the child was delivered
• The Division of Child Support Services

Either parent may ask the court to modify New Hampshire divorce child support orders while showing a considerable change of circumstances. Only when three years have passed since the last order was issued by the court, either party may request the court for the same without showing any change in circumstances.

Thus, divorcing parents should use all these information to the best possible extent ensuring the benefit of their children in the long run.

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