How Are Child Support Payments Calculated in North Carolina?

Child support payments are easier to calculate than alimony. Divorce, alimony, child support and child custody tend to go together. There are several factors that the courts will take into consideration in Concord, North Carolina.

Child support calculation

Two parents divorcing can be a headache, but both parents are responsible for the children’s finances. If the parents can’t decide on how to handle expenses, a judge will order a parent to pay child support. The state requires judges to create a child support calculation schedule that courts have to follow. The calculations come from the income shares model. The income shares model attempts to give the same portion of a parent’s income to the child as if the parents were still together.

Each parent needs to deliver a child support worksheet with their annual and gross income. Several factors that adjust the gross income include:

  • Healthcare insurance costs
  • Potential income
  • Existing child support for other children
  • Extraordinary expenses

Deviations from child support calculation schedule

The court checks other child support orders alongside the calculation schedule to help determine the average child support payment. If a parent is drawing unemployment benefits, they may still have to pay child support. There are times where the state allows deviations from the existing child support calculation schedule. Common reasons for a deviation to the schedule are multiple child support orders and child care tax credits. If the calculations give the child too much or little financial assistance, the judge can offer a different amount of child support. The court needs to write the reason the child support calculation schedule is unfair.

The child support calculation schedule helps the court order what’s best for the child. There are a lot of factors that are on the worksheet for the parents to fill out. Factors courts consider for child support include homemaking contributions of each parent and the standard of living before the divorce.

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