How to Calculate Child Support and Other Common Questions

Many divorced or separated parents are familiar with child support. It provides a way for a parent without full custody to financially support their child. Across the United States, parents either make or receive child support payments on a regular basis. According to a report by the United States Census Bureau in 2011, child support payments had a great impact on custodial parents below the poverty line, making up two-thirds of their mean annual income on average. As new families find themselves faced with the task of working out what their child support payments will look like, confusion often sets in and questions arise. Here are a few good points to be aware of which help to clear up some common questions regarding child support:

Where you live matters: Policies regarding child support vary state by state, and issues that come up which deal with child support are more often than not handled by state authorities. Many states will have very similar rules for how to calculate child support and how to make payments. While you may notice these similarities, it is important that you are familiar with what the specific guidelines are for your state in particular.

Custody impacts child support: In most cases, a family's custody arrangement will directly impact their child support arrangement. Custody agreements typically call for both legal and physical custody to be determined. Legal custody refers to a parent's right to make important decisions for a child about things like education or medical care. Physical custody concerns the child's living situation and time spent with each parent after divorce, and child support is usually directly impacted by the physical custody agreement. Sole physical custody arrangements often call for the child to live primarily with one parent, so the non-custodial parent will be the one who pays child support. On the other hand, if parents share physical custody under a joint agreement, then child support will be determined based on several factors, one of which including how much time each parent spends with their child.

How to calculate child support: There are a few common factors that family law courts in each state tend to consider. To help the court calculate child support, parents are typically asked to provide detailed information about their individual financial situations. This includes information about monthly earnings and expenses. Many courts also look at other details regarding the family's financial situation. This will include the income of both parents, the paying parent's capability to make payments, the financial needs of the child, and the standard of living that the child was used to before the divorce or separation. While these are all common factors and points that family law courts will typically consider, each state will still calculate child support payments using their own specific criteria and formulas. Many states offer an online child support calculator via their state government website or other related government website that is specific to child support. Some states also offer paper worksheets that can also be found online.

Use your child support payments appropriately. Child support payments are meant to do just that–support your child financially. That means that these payments must go directly towards caring for your child and their overall well being. Child support payments should cover basic needs costs for things like food and shelter. They should also help pay for the child's health care, insurance costs, education fees, and child care. Child support payments can even help to cover the cost of child-related entertainment, extra curricular activities and transportation.

Don't miss your payments. The Child Support Recovery Act of 1992 has made it so that child support could be federally enforced, but local and state authorities still typically handle child support enforcement. There can be negative legal consequences if you do not make child support payments in a timely manner and in the correct amounts. If you find yourself having trouble making your payments, you should contact your attorney or your state child support enforcement agency as soon as possible. 

Seek legal assistance. Every family's situation is different, and the ways that courts calculate child support vary based on so many factors. To help guide you in calculating your child support payments or answer any other questions, seek help from a family law professional such as an attorney who is well-versed in the child support laws which pertain specifically to your state. If you have general questions about your state's child support laws, you can also contact your local child support enforcement agency. 

How to calculate child support, how to use it and who to ask questions to about it are all things that many parents ask themselves when first dealing with child support. This information is meant to give parents an idea of what they might expect, but it should not be considered as legal advice. Talk to an attorney to for legal guidance and to help answer questions specific to your situation. Child support payments can greatly impact a child's life after a divorce or separation, and it is important that you get the right information to help you handle your child support situation appropriately.