In New Hampshire, more and more parents share joint residential responsibility for children, sharing equally in the parenting time. Many people may assume that if parents share equally in the time with the children, then they will have equal expenses and therefore neither party would pay child support to the other. However, the general philosophy of the court system says not so fast. The law holds that equal parenting time in and of itself will not negate the obligation for child support. If two parents earn substantially different incomes, then the parent with the higher income is often ordered to pay child support to the other parent.
For example, John and Jane are divorcing. They have two children, and will share time with the children in a week on/week off schedule. John is a mechanic who earns $50,000 per year. Jane is a teacher’s aide, and earns $25,000 per year. The New Hampshire Child Support Guidelines, if John were the obligor (person paying the child support) would require child support in the amount of $1,051 per month. If Jane were the obligor, the guidelines would require her to pay $571 in child support per month. Often, a court will look at the difference between those to figures, in this case $480, and order the parent with the higher salary to pay that figure as child support to the other parent. Here, John’s child support liability is probably between $450 and $750 per month, depending on other factors like property division, debt, expenses for the children and alimony.
The statutory frame work for the child support guidelines, and adjustments to those guidelines, can be found at RSA 458-C. The court will consider the following specific factors in making an order for child support:
· Whether, in cases of equal or approximately equal residential responsibility, the parties have agreed to the specific apportionment of variable expenses for the children, including but not limited to education, school supplies, day care, after school, vacation and summer care, extracurricular activities, clothing, health insurance costs and uninsured health costs, and other child-related expenses.
· Whether the obligor parent has established that the equal or approximately equal residential responsibility will result in a reduction of any of the fixed costs of child rearing incurred by the obligee parent.
· Whether the income of the lower earning parent enables that parent to meet the costs of child rearing in a similar or approximately equal style to that of the other parent.
If you are involved in a child support case, it is important to get the facts and information that you need for your case. Often, that means hiring an experienced and knowledgeable attorney to represent you in court. Please consider contacting Crusco Law Office, PLLC to explore your options for representation.
On January 1, 2011, two pieces of legislation will go into effect modifying some aspects of the child support guidelines.