Understanding Child Support Calculation
Hi, my name is Keith Flynn. I’m a Tulsa family law attorney at the Wirth Law Office. I’m here to discuss how child support is calculated. Well how is child support calculated? It’s really a subjective determination based on an objective equation. There are several factors that go into determining what child support are. Those include income, timeshare of the children, that is physical custody of the children, the number of children, as well as some variances for special needs of the children, which are additional costs to that actual child support figure that is calculated in the computation.
When we’re talking about income, we’re talking about gross income, that is before any deductions or payment of taxes, that’s the total income on the pay stub that’s gross, before anything’s taken out. And then when we’re talking about income, we’re talking about high and low incomes, and often very different incomes between both parents. And so these two are blended, a percentage of income is established, and the computation takes into account the discrepancy between two persons’ incomes and how many children are involved.
Factors Affecting Child Support
Now when I talk about subjective child support, obviously child support in households with higher shared income is greater than in houses where incomes are lower. And that is still using an objective tool, child support is meant to sort of stay the course as incomes become higher or are higher. And that’s related to the quality of life that we would expect a certain parent to provide for a child regardless of which household they are in predominantly. Parenting is another important component of child support.
There are child care credits associated with overnight visitation. If a parent is to receive more than 121 overnights, they begin to receive child care credits. And anything less than 121 overnights receives no child care credit. And so the 121 overnights is, for many people, a goal in order to start to receive credit in the child support calculation. Another factor is the number of children.
Special Circumstances and Deviations
This can also become more complicated as certain obligors or persons who owe child support have child support orders for other children not at issue in this or the particular case where the child support order is being imposed. And so the child support computation will account for prior court orders. And what’s important to note is that in a child support computation situation where you have other child support orders which the obligor is owed to pay, those orders may not account for the child support that they’re paying you.
Additionally, as I mentioned earlier, special needs of particular children, whether those be medical or learning disabilities, those can be addressed, and specifically can be quite expensive out-of-pocket expenses, which are generally to be paid by the custodial parent and then upon notice reimbursed at the percentage rate provided for based upon the income shares of the parties. And then all of this to say that some of these things are not even relevant to be considered when you have a deviation case involving high income or high net worth parties.
Get a Consultation Today!
I hope that answers some of your questions about how child support is determined. It is more complex than a short video can really provide you, and if you’ve got any questions, please give me, Keith Flinn, Tulsa divorce attorney a call at the Wirth Law Office at 918-770-7117 for a low-cost consultation. We are here to help you navigate through the process and ensure the best outcome for you and your children.