The Child Support Standards Act lays out formulas to calculate child support for NY couples that are divorcing. This legislation contains formulas to calculate each parent’s reasonable contribution to the child’s financial welfare including adjustments for employee expenses and Social Security income. Once the parents’ incomes are calculated on NY family law forms, the basic support for the child is calculated as a percentage of the combined income based on the number of children:
One child: 17%
Two children: 25%
Three children: 29%
Four children: 31%
Five children: 35% or more
This amount is allocated to each parent based on that parent’s income. If one parent makes twice as much as the other, for example, that parent would be expected to shoulder twice the child support obligation.
However this isn’t the end of it. Child support for NY divorces is adjusted for three special cases: childcare, healthcare and the child’s education.
If the custodial parent incurs childcare costs as a result of working, seeking work or seeking education in order to find a job then these expenses are added to the child support amount and allocated to each parent based on income.
Health insurance premiums and medical expenses not covered by insurance such as copayments or deductibles are also added to child support for NY divorces and allocated to each parent based on income.
Finally if the child is going to college then child support is adjusted based on expenses incurred as part of the child’s education.
These extra factors complicate the calculation of child support for NY parents which is why so many family law attorneys use legal software programs to perform the calculations for them. They enter the information and the proper and equitable support amount is automatically calculated.
Of course New York is not the only state with special exceptions for child support. AZ child support calculation includes different adjustments for childcare and education as well as a 10% bonus for teenage children. PA child support calculation takes into account mortgage payments and multiple families.
All of these rules and exceptions can confuse even an experienced family law attorney. Don’t take chances with your clients’ rights. Download demos of our legal software programs and see for yourself just how easy we make calculation of child support for NY, AZ or PA.
