Determining how to best care for your children following a divorce or separation can be a complicated and highly challenging process. While it is usually best to negotiate a mutually agreeable parenting plan with your former spouse, sometimes it is necessary for the courts to intervene.
If this is the case for you, you will need to understand how New Jersey family courts determine and award child support.
Understanding the process
The state of New Jersey follows the “income shares model” of determining child support. This means that the court decides what the cost of raising a child in an intact family would be, and then splits that cost between the two parents, depending on their relative incomes.
When determining a spouse’s income, the court views the individual’s gross income minus any allowable deductions. These forms of income may include one’s salary, investment proceeds, unemployment benefits and pension benefits. Taxes, mandatory union dues and mandatory retirement contributions are all allowable deductions from gross income when determining the percentage of child support a parent is liable to pay.
If a court finds that a parent is unemployed (or underemployed by his or her own volition), it may determine the child support amount based on the person’s earning potential rather than his or her actual income.
Sole versus shared parenting
Parents who are awarded sole custody of a child will almost always receive a higher percentage of child support funds than for which they are responsible, regardless of their income. Shared parenting arrangements, however, usually come with child support based solely on the income of each parent.
You should take child support considerations into account when you and your former spouse are attempting to reach a parenting plan for any children you have together. Your respective attorneys can help mediate any discussions related to child custody and child support, along with setting up a parenting plan that is in the best interests of your kids.
Child support termination and modifications
If there is a longterm, material change in circumstances for one or both parents, courts may move to modify or terminate a child support arrangement. Additionally, while state law does not outline a specific age at which parents are no longer compelled to pay child support, that age is generally understood to be 18. Some child support arrangement may have termination dates prior to the child’s 18th birthday, however.
Above all else, it’s important to act in your children’s best interests when determining child support. To learn more about this process, consult a dedicated New Brunswick family law attorney at the Law Office of Steven M. Cytryn today.
