Child Support 101: A Guide for the Freshly Divorced, Pt 1
Child support is an absolute — and absolutely vital — obligation for anyone who is a parent, whether they’re married to the other parent or not. When the relationship between parents breaks down, the non-custodial parent — the one that doesn’t take care of the kids — usually receives an order from the courts that forces them to pay the custodial parent child support. The amount of that support is determined by a number of factors, including the income levels of both parent, the number of children each parent cares for, and the precise custodial arrangement (i.e. who takes care of how many kids for how long.)
Basic Child Support Rules
In order for either parent to be considered ‘non-custodial’ and thus be right for child support payments, they have to have the child for less than 40% of the time. (Precise definitions of ‘sole physical custody’ vary from state to state, but the 60/40 rule is a constant.) Each state has its own rules for determine the base payments payable for each child, but those rules always have the same purpose: to prove the child with
- Food,
- Shelter,
- Clothing,
- Healthcare, and
- Education
If you and the other parent agree, you can certainly arrange for other expenses to be added to a child support agreement — but they must be expenses that a court would consider both necessary and reasonable. ‘Necessary’ in that the money will go to the child’s best interests, and ‘reasonable’ in that they don’t represent an extreme financial burden on the paying parent.
Child support payments are generally scheduled to occur every month for as long as the children are in school, living either at home or at college, unmarried, unemancipated, and either below the age of majority or at college. In most cases, ‘college’ refers to only the first four years of post-secondary education, but in certain instances can continue through the course of the child obtaining a Master’s Degree as well. (It’s wise to write a specific end-date or end-event into your divorce agreement if your spouse will agree to one, but don’t think it’s ironclad — a judge can overturn such a clause if they deem it to be in the child’s best interest.)
The major exception is when a special-needs child will be dependent and cared for by the custodial parent for the whole of the foreseeable future. In those instances, child support can become permanent — if you have a child with special needs, consult a legal specialist before you finalize any kind of divorce agreement.
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