Factors to Consider When Agreeing to Child Support

Excerpted from Child Support Made Easy by Mary L. Boland ©2006

In agreeing on a child support amount, the parents should consider a number of factors, including:

• what the state’s guidelines require;
• additional quality of life or standard of living issues;
• each parent’s financial resources;
• the needs of the child;
• who will be responsible for health care expenses;
• what educational expenses will be paid;
• other expenses;
• who takes the tax exemption;
• when and how payments will be made;
• whether there will be security (trust, life insurance) for the payments;
• what happens when the paying parent dies; and,
• if there is more than one child, what effect does it have on the payments if a child dies, reaches majority (age 18 or 21), marries, or joins the military.

Your State's Guidelines
In the previous chapter, you learned generally about the state child support guidelines in effect in every state. The guidelines that cover your case will be found either in your state’s statutes, administrative rules, or court opinions. From your legal resource library, you can obtain the language of the guidelines. Many states also list their guidelines on the Internet, but be aware that these may not be the most current versions, since the guidelines are subject to review every four years. You can also contact your local child support enforcement agency for information on obtaining your state’s guidelines.

Working through your state’s guidelines may feel a bit like doing your taxes. Many states provide specific worksheets and forms to assist the process. These are available through your local clerk’s office, local child support enforcement agency, and increasingly on the Internet.

With your state’s guidelines as a basis, you can formulate an amount of child support to put into an agreement.

Determining Your Basic Guideline Amount
Begin by determining your relevant income amount. Read your guidelines to determine whether your state is a combined income state. If so, begin by determining the amount of monthly income that both parents have. If your state is a percentage of income state, begin by determining the income of the parent without custody. Look to your state’s definition of income to see which amount (net or gross) the guideline is based on. For example, your state might include in its definition of gross income:

• salary, wages, interest, and dividends;
• commissions, allowances, overtime, or tips;
• business income;
• disability benefits;
• workers’ or unemployment compensation;
• pension or retirement payments;
• Social Security benefits; and,
• maintenance, alimony, or spousal support.

Now look to your guidelines to determine which income amount (for both parents or just the noncustodial parent)—gross or net—will be applied to the formula for support of the number of children you have.

Next, if your state permits, deduct from your income the permitted amounts. If yours is a net income state, this will usually include:

• federal, state, and local income taxes;
• FICA;
• Medicare or self-employment taxes;
• mandatory union dues and retirement payments;
• health insurance (but not for the child);
• maintenance;
• alimony or spousal support paid; and,
• child support for other children.

Total Your Income
In combined income states, you next add the final income amounts together for a combined total. In a percentage state, you only calculate the guideline amount from the paying parent (so do not combine incomes in those states).

Add or Deduct the Permitted Amounts
Check your state’s permitted adjustments to income to determine whether expenses can be added or deducted.

Compare Your Income Amount to the Guideline
On the guideline schedule for your state, find the amount due for your income amount. In combined income states, determine the proportionate share due from each parent. In percentage states, find the percentage amount of income from the paying parent that will be due.

Determining Your Child Support Amount
Now that you have determined the minimum guideline amount that would be acceptable in your state, you and the other parent should consider what additional amounts, if any, you believe would be best applied to your child’s support.

Every year the federal government publishes an annual estimate of how much it costs for both parents who live together to raise a child. Using these figures, researchers have shown that on average, it costs around $7,000 every year to raise a child when the family income is around $40,000. When the family income is between $43,000 and $70,000, expenditures for raising a child increase to about $10,500. The figures increase in households with more than one child. Overall, housing accounts for the biggest share of the expense—about 35% of the total—followed by food (15%–20%) and then transportation (15%). (See U.S. Department of Agriculture Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, Expenditures on Children by Families: 2005 Annual Report.)

Some states have raised their guideline amounts. You can compare your state’s current guideline amounts to the United States Department of Agriculture annual expenditure amounts, or simply compute the cost of raising your own child on a monthly basis. Check to see how it compares to the minimum guideline amount for a truer picture of how much you spend on child-related costs.

Writing the Child Support Agreement
Once you have worked through the relevant issues and determined that your agreement meets, exceeds, or is permitted to be less than the guideline amounts, begin writing. Make sure your written child support agreement covers:

• how much the payment shall be;
• the duration of the child support order;
• when and how child support will be paid;
• who is responsible for health care coverage;
• any special conditions of support; and,
• who will take the tax credit or exemption.

The agreement must indicate that the parents are fully aware of their obligations under their state’s guidelines. For example, in California, a court will approve the parties’ agreement for child support that is below the guidelines only if all the following are true.

• They are fully informed of their rights concerning child support.
• The order is being agreed to without coercion or duress.
• The agreement is in the best interests of the children involved.
• The needs of the children will be adequately met by the stipulated amount.

Language you might use to express a change from the guideline amount may be as follows.

Child support will be set in accordance with the State of ____ [your home state’s] guidelines. We know this is the presumptively correct amount of the child support obligation. We know we can agree to pay more than the State guidelines require, and we also know that we cannot pay less without an approved reason under our state law.

Duration of the Order
The length of the child support order depends on the agreement of the parties or the terms ordered by the court. Many orders expire when the child reaches 18 years of age (the age of majority in most states), but parents may agree that they will support a child after he or she reaches the age of majority. This usually arises when the parents are in agreement that the child should go to college. Sometimes there will be an agreement to support the child until he or she becomes self-supporting.

Unless some kind of agreement is made beyond the period of time that a child reaches the age of majority, the court usually will not order such s

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Child Support Made Easy, 2E

Mary L. Boland, Attorney at Law

Collect, enforce or terminate your child support order.

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