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Home > Articles: Child Support Calculation
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Child Support Calculation
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In case that a child is at stake when a couple decides to separate, the divorce decree will include a Child Support Order. This document defines the frequency and the amount of the payment that one parent, who is most of the time the non-custodial parent, has to make to the other parent for the support of their common child. The main purpose of this legal order to transfer regularly the revenue of one parent to the other is to combine the wealth of both parents for the support of the child.
How the child support payment is determined? The matter has been very strictly ruled by federal laws in order to prevent too large different amounts being ordered from one court to another. Indeed child support payments are now determined according to basic and objective federal guidelines. Consequently, most states have set up mathematical formulas to determine the amount of the child support payment. Most attorneys also provide their clients with child support calculators to give an estimate of the potential amount that the non-custodial parent will have to pay.
Which revenues are taken into account into the formula? Basically the formula takes only into account the net incomes of the parents. This means that all federal and state income taxes, Social Security and Medicare tax, health insurance payments, union dues and other mandatory expenses are deducted from the gross income of the parents before calculating the child support order. In many cases, parents may also have to present evidences regarding their incomes including pay statements, profit/loss statements of sole proprietorships, or tax returns in order to prevent one party to hide income to the other party.
In addition to the net incomes of the parent, the formula takes into account other factors such as the amount of time a child spends with each parent, number of children, special medical or education expenses. As you can easily understand determining the amount of the child support is very complex. As a result some states decided to use computer programs to determine the accurate amount of child support.
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Child Support Article: Child Support Calculation This article explores ideas related to domestic violence and the comparison to civil harassment.
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