The custody cliché of the mother taking care of the kids while the father comes by on alternate weekends isn’t common anymore. Even if one party is considered the custodial parent, kids often spend plenty of time with the non-custodial parent as well. Pennsylvania child support calculator considers the number of days with each parent when calculating the monthly amount.
PA child support guideline assumes that when child is in the care of the non-custodial parent, that parent is covering the child’s meals and other expenses. So the more time a child spends with the parent paying child support, the lower the calculated support will be. This is why it is essential that parents count the days of support carefully so that a fair level of support can be calculated.
Custody days also affect the type of custody: sole or shared. PA child support guidelines consider custody to be sole custody if one parent has the children less than 40% of the time or 146 days per year. In this case the main determining factor in Pennsylvania child support calculation is the non-custodial parent’s income.
However if each parent has custody at least 146 days per year then Pennsylvania family law considers this to be a shared custody arrangement. The support formula considers both parents income as well as the actual number of days per year each parent has the children. Attorneys need to be sure to use a PA support calculator that considers both these scenarios.
Although many other states have similar laws, it is essential that attorneys use specialized Pennsylvania divorce law software to come up with a support amount that is fair to the kids, the parents and adheres to Pennsylvania state law.
Situations like these are why we offer state-specific divorce software such as EzSupport-PA, our PA support calculator. When you determine child support using our software you can be confident that the amount calculated is valid under current Pennsylvania law. Our other child support products include NY, NJ and AZ child support calculator. We hope to add other states to our divorce financial settlement lineup in the near future.
Child support isn’t about what’s fair to the divorcing couple, but rather what is needed by the children. Use state-specific legal software programs designed to accommodate local family law ordinances to calculate the proper support and maintenance amounts for your clients.
