Can I challenge both the custody agreement as well as contest the child support payments? By Sari M. Friedman, Legal Counsel Fathers' Rights Association – NYS & Long Island. First, p hysical custody is where the child spends his or her time. But a deviation is always discretionary. Let’s look at a 50/50 custody and child support example. The more nights you have the child, the less support you will be required to pay. Even with joint custody, it is not always easy to make the arrangement function smoothly. is Connecticut a sharing state? Joint custody and child support While there is a great movement towards 50/50 equally shared visitation time in at least 30 states, the majority of family courts still default to some version of a model that has prevailed in separated families for decades: i live in fl, http://leg1.state.va.us/000/cod/20-108.2.HTM, Residential time the children spend with each parent. With the passing of the modification to custody and timesharing in 2018, the landscape for child support has changed dramatically in Kentucky. I work three jobs to keep my head above water and satisfy the ordered amount, but I do not spend enough time with my sons as I would like. She wants to divorce, and keep only working 15 hrs a week and continue to homeschool. Now, it is rare that no child support is ordered, but it is technically possible. Parent A kicks $20k to parent B for child support? In the case of divorce, one parent is typically required to pay child support to the other parent. However, these cases are relatively rare. When determining child support in the state of California for parents who have 50/50 custody, the court must follow the state's established support guidelines. Despite all of these realities, in income-shares model states, $10,000 in “child support” will be ordered be paid from Parent A to Parent B absent an agreement between the two parties (if even then). The purpose is to equalize the income and make both households have an income of $50,000 each. Parent A makes a net income of $60,000/year, Parent B makes a net income of $40,000/year. Note that in Florida, only overnights count in the calculation for child support. Since, in theory at least, parents with joint custody share equally in physical custody, this is less important when deciding who should pay child support. Q: If the parents have 50/50 custody, can one parent be required to pay child support to the other parent? Is Child Support Necessary if the Parents Split Custody 50/50? Where one parent makes more than the other, the court may believe it's not fair to the children to rely on the lower-earning parent's income alone while in their care. While prevailing opinion (with some exceptions) may be that when an equal parenting arrangement has been created via a child custody order or agreement between parents – each parent should be responsible for the financial responsibilities of the children in their own home. No money in the form of court ordered child support should change hands. Unfortunately, that’s not real life in all but the fewest circumstances. This means that both parents maintain legal and physical custody of their child, and in some cases even splitting time equally, 50/50, between parents. We homeschooled our kids when we were together. I just made a 50/50 custodial agreement but I’m in need for some child support, my ex makes so much more than I do. It may not be “fair.” It may not be necessary. In the above example, child support will be ordered and it’s clear that it has absolutely nothing with supporting the children. It’s the law in those states using the income-shares model. This, of course, is detailed with the realization that there may be exceptions for individual circumstances where a 50/50 custody arrangement is in place and one parent is unable to work or has been laid off and assistance is required. Those situations are understood. However, many situations are similar to the one example above. Both parents are working. Both parents make a good wage. Both parents can take care of the children quite well with their respective 50% child custody. However, if the lower earning parent wants to petition the court for extra money in the form of child support, they can do it and they will get it according to the child support formula in their state. Under New York case law, the parent earning the most income is deemed to be the noncustodial parent for purposes of calculating support, regardless of whether the parties have 50/50 shared custody. However, 50/50 custody arrangements do not necessarily absolve parents of child support obligations. The ex is very mean and constantly threatens to make us pay child support if we don’t do her favors and take the kids to appointments on her custody weeks. However, it may make the tax waters a bit murkier than they were before the divorce. In an shared parenting arrangement, equal custody, 50/50 custody, the income-shares model states seek to “equalize the income between the two households.” Extra expenses are not truly a factor. Parenting time is equal. Both have and maintain households and can make ends meet in their respective households. They put a roof over their children’s heads. They clothe them. They feed them. They are both equally taking care of meeting or exceeding all of the needs of their children. This would occur in cases where the custody arrangement is split 50/50 and the parents have the same resources and income. This involves looking at the income of both parties and taking into consideration which party will have primary physical custody. In other words, joint custody is roughly a 50/50 custodial arrangement, where the child spends a roughly equal amount of time with each parent. According to Florida Statute 61.30, child support guidelines are heavily influenced by the parties’ net income after allowable deductions and the number of overnights each party enjoys with the kids. In cases where parents have a disparity in income, the court may order child support. These can be joint, where the parents share responsibility, or it can be sole, where one parent is mostly in charge of the child. It is important to note that there are two types of custody recognized in Florida. Our attorneys have worked with clients throughout central Florida in all areas of family law, including divorce, child custody and property division. We live in Illinois, well my girl friend lives in a unsutable house for m baby girl. Further, both parents would also need to be equally dividing expenses for things like health insurance and childcare. In Florida, child support calculations are based on two factors. When parents share 50/50 custody, child support payments are approximately 15% of the difference of the parents' earnings. How is Child Support Calculated in Georgia in 50/50 Custody Arrangements? The answer to whether you have to pay child support if you have your children fifty percent of the time is, it depends. 50/50 custody covers two areas.Joint legal custody gives both parents equal authority regarding major decisions about the child such as education, health care, and religion.Joint physical custody maximizes the time the child has with both parents.Schedules work well in securing the same amount of time the child has with each parent. My spouse makes only about $6000 a year, because she does not want to work more then 2 or 3 days a week (at 5 hrs a day). A 50/50 custody arrangement is clearer, and it is socially beneficial for both the ex-spouses and their children. The Quick Guide to Dependent Tax Claims in 50/50 Custody. Some parents, often through agreement, have 50/50 parenting plans, in other words, each parent has the children 50% of the time. The first factor is the financial resources of each parent. Can she be awarded support if she makes $200,000 a year to our combined income of $120,000? It’s applied the same way in unbalanced schedules only the formula adjusts for unexplained factors to modify upwards for the payor if the custodial parent has the lion’s share of child custody. Child support is calculated based on several different factors including the incomes of both parents. Finally, the court will take into account the number of overnights the child spends with each parent. Learn More Now! In calculating each parent’s earnings, the formula takes into account nearly every form of income. If the child spends less than this amount of time with a parent, that parent receives no child support credit. Child support generally exists so that a higher-earning parent who divorces a lower-earning parent will still contribute toward the children’s living expenses. If one parent makes much more money or has fewer debts, he or she may be ordered to pay the other support, even if they share 50/50 custody. I was divorced a year ago and pay $1600.00/month to my ex-wife for child support. An argument can be made to the court, but the guidelines are presumed correct. Do I Have to Pay Child Support with 50/50 Joint Custody? If Husband/Father earns $100,000 per year, and Wife/Mother earns $65,000 per year, and the parties have equal timesharing, Husband/Father will likely be ordered to pay child support. This process considers each parent’s current assets and as well as how much each parent earns. Child custody establishes who will have legal and/or physical custody of the child. Yes, you can still request child support if you share 50/50 custody. Courts in New Jersey will essentially award the parent who has the child more times overnight, more child support. The difference becomes what a parent owes in child support. It also means the child goes to school where that parent lives. New Hampshire is a strange hybrid and the guidelines barely take into account obligee’s income and parenting time is irrelevant. However, in these cases, there may be additional hurdles that a parent must address first, such as proving paternity. They may assume that since they equally share the parenting, neither would owe any child support to the other. In the past, it was most common for mothers to get custody of their children and for fathers to get visitation. Pennsylvania allows for parents to share custody of a minor child after a divorce, and in some cases, that custody is split equally, 50/50. Is Virginia an “income sharing state”? The first type is known as “legal custody.” Legal custody refers to the right to make important decisions about raising the child. The idea is that this gives children a more … [2] Consequently, this non-custodial parent is required to pay their pro-rata share of the child support obligation unless it can be shown that paying the full amount would be unjust or improper. I make almost $60k. While a 50/50 custody agreement may seem like it would preclude child support, this is rarely the case. Under Georgia’s statutory child support guidelines, the “noncustodial parent”—the party with less than 50% of the parenting time—is typically expected to pay child support to the “custodial parent”—the party … She has primary custody. The court will then take into consideration any additional expenses that each parent is covering. However, an equal split of custody in a joint custody case often leads to questions about the payment of child support between parents. Any help will be appreciated. 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