Guidelines, income, modification, enforcement, and interstate rules

Black-letter propositions

1. 01

   Guidelines use income, parenting time, childcare, health costs, other dependents, and specified adjustments.

2. 02

   Courts can impute income for voluntary unemployment or underemployment after considering capacity and good faith.

3. 03

   A deviation requires findings tied to statutory factors and the child's interests.

4. 04

   Modification generally requires material change and is prospective from the authorized date; vested arrears ordinarily cannot be retroactively erased.

5. 05

   Enforcement includes withholding, liens, contempt, interception, license consequences, and interstate UIFSA mechanisms.

6. 06

   Support duration and postsecondary obligations vary by state.

Use this attack sequence under time

Common wrong turns

• Parents cannot bargain away the child's support right.
• Shared custody does not automatically eliminate support.
• Contempt requires ability and willful noncompliance under governing procedure.

Worked example

Parents privately agree to waive support, but the agreement leaves the child without basic needs.

Practice this topic

Guidelines and amount

Cornell says child support is paid by the noncustodial parent to the custodian as a contribution to the child's basic living expenses, and that states generally impose no support obligation after age 18. Trial courts set the periodic amount. Circumstances include the child's age, health and educational needs and the standard of living the child would have enjoyed if the family had stayed together. Courts generally make findings on each parent's net monthly income, and many statutes require a set percentage of salary and sometimes of bonuses.

The Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act requires an amount reasonable or necessary for support without regard to marital misconduct.

Extras and duration

A court may also order contributions to future medical and dental expenses, vacation and camp expenses, and religious or private school costs, according to Cornell. Jurisdictions split on whether a parent owes contributions to an 18-year-old college student and on whether the obligor's death extinguishes future support.

NCBE's outline lists jurisdictional variations in mandatory guidelines, how time with each parent affects the calculation, written justification for deviating from guidelines, extraordinary expenses, college and functional needs of children with disabilities, and emancipation.

Enforcement

Cornell says Congress created the Federal Parent Locator Service partly to enforce support obligations, and some states allow wage withholding, which requires the employer to withhold part of the wages and turn them over to the obligee. An employer that fails to comply may be penalized, and an obligor may be held in contempt and required to pay fees and costs.

The outline lists contempt proceedings, due-process safeguards, and the requirement that jurisdictions work together to enforce support orders under UIFSA (2008).

Frequently asked questions