How Is Child Support Determined?

If you are preparing for a divorce and you have children in the marriage who are under the age of 18, then you and your spouse will need to reach an agreement about child support payments. It is a common mistake for people to confuse child support with alimony payments, but the two have very different purposes and are determined with very different requirements. Child support is intended to cover the child that the payments are made for, even though their guardian is the person who is entrusted with the payments. This means that the parent who is making the child support payments should think of them as simply providing financial support for their children in the same capacity that they would have if there was no divorce.

Determining how child support payments are structured, how much will be paid, who pays, and more are best determined with the help of an experienced divorce attorney like lawyer R. Timothy Hogan, because these issues can become contentious when a divorcing couple tries to reach an agreement on their own. 

Who Makes Child Support Payments?

In most cases, the parent who makes the child support payments is the parent who has less physical custody of the child, since they will, therefore, need to make fewer payments out of pocket for the child. However, this is an over-simplification of the process of determining who makes the payments, and for what amount they pay. There is a formula that the courts will use (or you will use with your ex and your lawyers or mediator) in order to determine a fair amount. Again, it is important to remember that these payments are not intended to go to the other parent or to be considered as punitive payments-they are meant to give the child the financial support that they need and deserve.

Factors of Child Support Payments

There are many different factors that go into determining who makes and receives the child support payments, as mentioned above, but there are many other details to consider. While knowing which parent will have primary custody of the child is a great place to start, the courts will also need to know that you have considered things such as each parent's income, the child's needs, and more.

If your child is in a private school, has special medical needs, childcare costs, participates in extracurriculars, or there are any other specific circumstances that increase their financial reliance on their parents, then all of these costs will be accounted for. In addition to the base costs, the courts will need to determine what amount of time the child will spend with each parent. For each day or night that the child spends with the parent who is to be making child support payments, it is likely that their obligation will be reduced since they will be making direct payments to cover the child on those days.

In addition, the court will consider whether or not there are any other children or dependants who will be impacted by these payments. If the child support payments of this particular divorce will create financial hardship or instability for other children who rely on the support of this parent, then the courts or attorneys will additionally consider this variable as they work towards a final amount.

Keep in mind that an initial decision on child support amounts is not final. Financial situations change, children's needs change, and there are many other things that can require a child support ruling to be revisited. Again, this is best done with the support of an experienced attorney. 

© 2023 Lawyer Herald All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
* This is a contributed article and this content does not necessarily represent the views of lawyerherald.com