How to determine child support has been the subject of countless discussions, essays and government regulations over the history of human civilization. Modern family law tends to build support around the idea of income and expenses. When completing the CIS statement NJ attorneys can use a Lifestyle Expenditures sheet to help determine proper support.
Don’t Just Guess
Sadly, child support tends to get relegated to another asset to fight over just like the TV and the contents of the checking account. It’s important for both parents — and for that matter both attorneys — to remember that the reason for child support is the welfare of the child. As an unbiased party you must not lose sight of this critical fact, because your clients probably will.
The problem is that the right child support for little Johnny Smith might not be the right support for little Billy Jones. Johnny and Billy and their respective parents have lived different lives with different standards of living, and that factors into the support equation. Parents may think they can just make up figures, and not surprisingly the custodial parent’s figure is always much higher than that of the parent paying support.
Look At The Numbers
A Lifestyle Expenditures report, like the one built into Easysoft’s CIS software, gives hard figures that can be used to justify a given support scenario. Rather than simply looking at the expenses for the entire family, which makes it hard to separate out what the child needs, attorneys can separate out expenses by each parent and the children separately. Isolate costs associated with the child or children and you are in a better position to calculate and defend a given support scenario.
Even with these numbers, there may not be an obvious child support solution. In those cases you need another CIS tool called Worksheet Magic. Prepare as many child and spousal support scenarios as you like and then compare up to five of them side by side so you can consider the implications of each. This not only helps you find the best solution for your client, but gives you alternatives you can offer during negotiations. If you end up in court, judges are far more impressed by NJ CIS forms backed by documentation than one just filled out with fantasy numbers.
Get your clients (and their kids!) the deals they deserve by using the right technology. Buy now and start using CIS right away.
