How Does Child Support Work With Joint Custody?
"Joint custody" can refer either to joint legal custody -- the right of both parents to be involved in major decision-making for their minor children -- or joint physical custody -- the right of placement with the minor children at given times. Child support is a matter decided according to individual state laws and varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction; however, certain important factors play into child support calculations in all states.
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Placement Time With the Children
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While state child support guidelines vary, how much time you have placement of the minor children can play an important role in whether you must pay support and how much support you have to pay. In North Carolina, for example, a parent with 124 overnights or more per year with her minor children shifts from a Worksheet A calculation to Worksheet B, where the percentage of time each parent spends with the children is factored into the equation. On Worksheet A, where a parent has 123 overnights or less, child support remains the same whether a parent has 122 overnights or none. The difference in the monthly support amount can be in the hundreds or thousands of dollars.
Incomes of the Parties
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The incomes of the parents and their relative abilities to pay support are another important factor in determining child support in a joint custody arrangement. Even in those situations where the parents exercise equal placement, one may still have to pay the other if there is a significant difference in what the parents earn.
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Other Support Obligations
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Many states take into account the existence of other child support obligations in calculating child support. A parent who earns a significant income compared to the other may be ordered to pay a smaller amount of support if that parent also bears the burden of supporting other children outside of the relationship, regardless of whether those children live with that parent. North Carolina, for example, subtracts the parent's other support obligation from his gross income before calculating child support.
Medical Insurance and Daycare Costs
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States can also consider medical insurance and work-related child care costs in calculating an amount of support for one parent to pay the other under a joint custodial arrangement. The payment by one or the other parent of these costs is credited towards that parent's share of the child support obligation. As such, a parent earning a higher income than the other may still be entitled to receive child support under an equal placement schedule if that parent bears the burden of paying for daycare and medical insurance.
Extraordinary Expenses
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Individual state child support guidelines may also take into account the existence of extraordinary expenses in raising the minor children. These extraordinary expenses may include special education costs, special health needs or activities in which the children participate that a court feels important in an analysis of the children's best interests.
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