Child Support Overview

Here are 11 important child support facts to know:

  1. During and after divorce, parents are required by law to share together in the care of their children until they are 18 or graduate from high school (but not past the age of 19).
  2. If a child has a disability, the court may award support past the age of 19.
  3. If support covers more than one child, the parent must continue to pay the entire amount until the youngest child reaches 18 years of age or the court orders otherwise orders.
  4. The goal of child support is to give a child the same standard of living they would have enjoyed had the child’s parents stayed together.
  5. In certain instances, the responsibility of child support extends to the grandparents of a minor child.
  6. A step-parent is not required to pay support for his or her stepchildren.
  7. Payments can be deducted from the paycheck of the parent who is paying the support through a wage withholding order by the court.
  8. Child support is not taxable to the recipient nor is it deductible by the one paying the support.
  9. Payments cannot be discharged in bankruptcy.
  10. A court cannot include the payment of college expenses in calculating the amount of child support.
  11. A parent can pursue child support by obtaining a support order during a civil or criminal proceeding or by seeking emergency family maintenance (EFM) as part of a protective order.

Child support is calculated using either the Sole Custody Worksheet A, which is used when one parent has less that 128 overnights of visitation during the year, or the Shared Custody Worksheet B, which is used when the non-custodial parent has more than 128 overnights of visitation per year.