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Child Support Summary
During, and after the termination of, marriage, parents are required, by law, to share together in the care of their children until they are 18 or until they graduate from high school but not longer than until the age of 19. If the child has any disability, the court may award support past the age of majority. Finally, if the support order covers more than one child, the duty to pay the entire amount of child support continues until the youngest child reaches the age of majority or the court otherwise orders. That is, a child support order is not reduced if one of the children reaches the age of majority.
When a marriage terminates in divorce, the amount of child support is determined by child support guidelines. These guidelines set an automatic amount of child support based on various criteria. The purpose of the guidelines is to give a child the same standard of living they would have enjoyed had the child’s parents stayed together or even if the parents had never lived together. In certain instances, the responsibility of child support extends to the grandparents of a minor child. The same does not hold true, however, of a stepparent of a minor child and, therefore, a steparent is not required to pay support for his or her stepchildren.
Irrespective of who is liable for support payment, the payments can be deducted from the paycheck of the parent who is paying the support through a wage withholding order by the court. Child support is not taxable to the recipient nor is it deductible by the one paying the support. Payments cannot be discharged in bankruptcy. Finally, a court cannot include the payment of college expenses in calculating the amount of child support.
A parent has a few options in deciding how to pursue child support. A parent can obtain a support order by instituting a civil or criminal proceeding. A parent can also seek emergency family maintenance (EFM) as part of a protective order in order to pursue child support.
In calculating the amount of child support, there are two types of worksheets used that each correspond to whether one parent has sole physical custody or both parents are sharing custody (“joint physical custody”).
Sole Custody Worksheet A: used when one parent has less that 128 overnights of visitation during the year
Shared Custody Worksheet B: use when the non-custodial parent has more than 128 overnights of visitation per year
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