Divorce becomes very complicated – emotionally, legally and financially – when children are involved.  While divorce may be the answer for you and your spouse, both of you will continue to maintain relationships with your children…and that means providing for their physical and emotional needs. 

Children are legally entitled to parental support until they are 18 years old or they graduate from high school.  In divorce cases, the parent that does not have custody (the “non-custodial” parent) will typically be ordered by the court as part of the divorce settlement to make child support payments to the parent who has custody of the children (the “custodial parent”) to help pay for the child’s food, clothing, shelter, education and medication.  Childcare expenses may be treated separately from support in a custody agreement. 

Let’s look at some of the most common questions about child support:

What are the tax consequences of child support?

Child support is neither considered deductible for the parent paying, nor considered taxable income for the parent receiving support.

When does child support start? 

The court will make temporary child support provisions in the temporary orders to cover the time period between when your divorce process begins and when it is finalized.  Child support will be part of the divorce settlement agreement after the divorce and custody agreements are finalized.  Child support, custody and visitation rights can each be negotiated separately.  You cannot legally withhold visitation rights for failure to pay child support.

How much money could I receive in child support?

In 1988 the federal Family Support Act required all states to adopt a uniform statewide formula to determine a minimum baseline amount that non-custodial parents must pay in child support. Your lawyer or someone working in your local family court can tell you your state’s minimum child support amount.  You can also find child support guidelines on your state government’s website or at your local public library.  You may use your state’s guidelines as a starting point in your negotiations, but you and your lawyer should also take your spouse’s income and ability to pay into account when determining what to ask for in the divorce agreement. 

There are four basic models that lawyers and courts use when determining child support amounts:

• Income shares.  This approach combines both parents’ incomes to determine a percentage or amount available for support.  Each parent’s share is directly proportionate to his or her income.  So, for example, if your income were 40% of your and your spouse’s total combined income, then you would be responsible for 40% of the child support responsibility.
  
  
• Flat percentage of income.  This model sets the child support amount as a percentage of the non-custodial parent’s income, based on the number of children.  The percentage stays the same whether the non-custodial parent’s income goes up or down.  A dollar cap may apply.
  
  
• Varying percentage of income.  This model sets the child support amount as a percentage of the non-custodial parent’s income, but that percentage can change if your ex-spouse’s income changes.
• Melson Formula model.  This model considers several variables, including the amount of money each parent needs to maintain self-sufficiency.  Each parent is assigned a respective share.  Childcare expenses are treated separately and a Standard of Living Adjustment assures that children benefit when parents earn more.

Each state allows different combinations of child support models and has varying requirements for children’s medical care, child care and college support. 

Determining the amount of child support is only the first step.  You and your spouse, your lawyers, and the court will also need to resolve issues that can affect child custody amounts such as:

If there’s more than one child, is the child support payment to be divided equally or are different portions allocated to each child?

At what age will the support payments stop?  Child support typically ends when a child reaches a defined age or education level, marries, joins the military, moves out and lives independently or declares emancipation.

How will college plans affect the child support payment amount? 

How will the payments be made?  They can be withheld from wages, paid directly to the custodial parent or through a third party.

What if you know, or can anticipate, that your children will require special, additional needs such as psychiatric counseling, medical care, special education, sports equipment and team costs, etc.?

What happens if the paying parent dies before the children reach 18? The agreement may require a life insurance policy or annuity be purchased to cover this possibility.  The child can be the beneficiary and the custodial parent can be the trustee.

Will the non-custodial parent be required to register with the state child support enforcement division?  This can increase your ability, as the custodial parent, to collect child support if your husband falls behind in making payments.  There is a small fee to register and possibly other costs for court filings.

What happens if the parent responsible for paying child support stops paying? 

What happens if the custodial parent moves away?  Does that affect if, or how much, the parent paying child support still needs to pay?   

What happens if the parent paying child support moves away?  Does that affect his/her requirement to pay child support? 

As with every aspect of divorce be sure that everything you want in the divorce settlement is clearly explained, in detail, and in writing.  Don’t assume that you and your ex-spouse will understand things in the same way unless they’re clearly spelled out.