Child Support: How it Works in North Carolina
Some of the most asked questions we get here are the firm are: How much am I going to pay for Child Support? Or how much am I going to get in Child Support? While multiple factors play into determining the amount of child support the answer may be as easy as plugging numbers into a formula (you just have to make sure you plug in the right numbers!).
Every few years, a group of judges update and publish the North Carolina Child Support Guidelines that govern how child support is to be awarded across the state. The goal of the guidelines are to ensure that child support amounts are equitable to the child and provide enough money to the custodial parent to adequately meet that child’s needs. The underlying basis for those calculations, is that a child should receive the same proportion of parental income they would have received if the parents were still living together.
Calculating Child Support
The starting point for child support calculations is each parent’s gross monthly income. This includes income from any source whether it be from employment, self-employment, disability pay, gifts, and unemployment benefits among others. What’s not included are adoption assistance benefits, benefits from means tested public assistance programs, and child support payments received on behalf of other children. The child support guidelines use the gross monthly income, as opposed to the net monthly income, and you are required to enter the total amount of your earnings, not the amount you are actually paid.
To determine which worksheet to use, a court considers the custody arrangement. The guidelines use three distinct Worksheets to determine child support:
· Worksheet A – where one party has primary custody (defined as having 243 overnights or more during the year);
· Worksheet B – where there is joint or shared custody (the non-custodial parent has more than 123 overnights a year); or
· Worksheet C – where there is split custody (two or more children and primary custody is different for each child).
A court first puts the parent’s monthly gross income into the appropriate worksheet. Next, other factors are added into the calculation, such as the cost of health insurance for the child, work-related childcare expenses, and certain extraordinary costs. Once the relevant numbers are plugged in, the worksheet does the calculation for you. It will provide the court with a number to be paid monthly by one parent to the other for the support of their shared child.
Basically, it all equates to a simple math problem. The court is not guessing or taking extraneous factors into the calculation. It is simply applying a formula to the financial information presented.
Of course, disputes often arise over that financial information. Parents may disagree about income, whether certain expenses are reasonable, or which worksheet should apply. These disagreements are usually where litigation is actually focused, rather than on the formula itself.
What Else to Know?
Another important concept to consider when discussing child support is imputation of income. Imputation of income occurs when the court uses a monthly gross income for one parent on the worksheet that is higher than what the party actually makes. This only occurs if a court determines that a parent is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed (thereby deliberately suppressing their income to avoid child support payments). When it imputes income to a party, it may calculate child support based on what that parent is capable of earning, rather than what they currently earn, or by using minimum wage calculations.
The worksheets supplied under the child support guidelines will apply in most cases. It is important to note that when the combined income of the parents is higher than $40,000.00 a month, the worksheets will not apply, and the court decides on the child support award it should order to meet the needs of the child. A party can also request that the court deviate from the guidelines. A deviation may be appropriate if applying the guidelines would be unfair to one of the parents or would result in a child support award that would not provide for the child’s best interests.
We’re Here to Help!
Understanding how child support is determined can make the process feel less overwhelming. Having an experienced attorney by your side can help ensure that your child is getting the support they need, while also ensuring that the child support order accurately reflects your financial situation.
Want to discuss your child support case? Give us a call today for assistance!
