Fair Child Support Laws

The Federal Child Support Enforcement Act dictates that each state have specific guidelines to calculate the minimum amount of child support that a noncustodial parent must pay. These guidelines may vary from state to state based on the differing incomes of each parent and their possible differing forms of income. This means that identical situations could warrant child support amounts in one state to be far more or less than that ordered in another state.

Goals

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines have established the following goals:
• To maintain or improve a child's standard of living
• To promote joint economic parental responsibility as is appropriate to his or her income
• To protect the continuation of income for parents in a low-income bracket, especially if they are on public assistance
• To consider nonmonetary contributions parents give to children
• To account for economic contributions by each parent beyond the child support guidelines
• To make consistent the setting of child support orders at all income levels
• To identify the necessity and cost of health insurance coverage for the children
• To allow for adjustments to child support as each parent's income increases or decreases

To these ends, courts always request that each parent complete financial statements that include their incomes and expenses before the final child support judgment.

What Constitutes Income

In the case of child support, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts says income includes: salaries, wages, overtime and tips; self-employment income; commissions or bonuses; severance pay; royalties; interest and dividends; social security; veterans' benefits; military pay; insurance benefits; workers' compensation; unemployment benefits; pensions; annuities; distributions and income from trusts; capital gains in real and personal property transactions; spousal support received from a person not a party to this order; income from life insurance or endowment contracts; income from interest in an estate; lottery or gambling winnings; prizes or awards; net rental income; funds received from earned income credit; and more.

Considerations

Often, the noncustodial parent will argue to pay less than what the child support guidelines of the state require. In most cases, the custodial parent will fight for the due percentage. But, that custodial parent might want to consider two possible scenarios:

The parent paying child support might be less likely to become overwhelmed if you agree on a lesser amount of money. The less overwhelmed the parent paying child support is, the less likely the parent is to fall delinquent and stop payments altogether.

If the custodial parent agrees to lesser child support from the noncustodial parent, there is a chance both parents could come to an agreement in which the noncustodial parent contributes to extracurricular activities and eventually college.

Hardship

Hardship constitutes an exception to the child support guidelines. If hardship occurs post calculation of child support, the calculation will be revised. Hardship could include loss of employment, personal injury or illness with loss of wages and/or medical bills, natural disasters that leave the payer's living situation compromised, and more.

Time Frame

Child support most often terminates when the child becomes emancipated. This age is typically 18, but sometimes is 21. Or, if the child chooses to live with the previously noncustodial parent, that parent need not pay child support. Factors that might also terminate child support prior to emancipation could be entrance into the military, the child's acceptance of full-time employment, or marriage.

If a state's emancipation age is 18, the divorced parents could arrive at a legal agreement that the noncustodial parent will continue to pay child support while the child is an undergraduate.

References

• www.mass.gov
• FindLaw
• FamilyEducation