Are you having trouble calculating child support in New York State? New York has a specific law called the Child Support Standards Act that calculates the basic amount of child support you may owe (or receive). The formula will calculate the noncustodial parent’s child support payment by adding up the incomes of both parents, multiplying that amount by a certain percentage based on the number of children to be supported, then prorate that value based on the percentage of each parent’s income. The final result will be how much the noncustodial parent is supposed to pay in child support for the year.
Calculating Child Support in New York | Formula
The following is the percentage value based on the number of children to be supported:
- One child = 17%
- Two children = 25%
- Three children = 29%
- Four children = 31%
- Five or more children = at least 35%
Calculating Child Support in New York | Examples
Let’s look at a hypothetical situation to make this easier to understand. Let’s say you have a divorced couple with two children. The father is the custodial parent and makes $35,000 per year while the mother makes $45,000 per year. Since the mother is the noncustodial parent, she will make child support payments to the father.
The first step is to add up the parents’ incomes, which totals $80,000. Since there are two children, we will multiply that number by 25%. This results in an annual child support requirement of $20,000. The father is responsible $8,750 since his income only amounts to 43.75% of the $80,000 total. The mother is responsible for $11,250 since her income amounts to 56.25% of the $80,000 total. Therefore, the mother will make $11,250 worth of child support payments to the father throughout the year.
In the above hypothetical, $11,250 is the noncustodial parent’s base child support obligation. However, the base child support obligation can be adjusted by requiring the noncustodial parent to pay more child support for certain costs, such as child care, health insurance and medical expenses.
If the combined incomes of the parents exceed a certain threshold (it changes every two years, but is roughly $141,000), the court may use the Child Support Standards Act formula only for the first $141,000, and then consider a variety of factors to decide how to account for the combined incomes that exceed $141,000. Or the court may just use the Child Support Standards Act formula on the entire combined income amount.
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Calculating Child Support in New York | Contact Us Today
If you are facing difficulties with child support, it is extremely important to speak with one of our Buffalo child support lawyers for experienced representation. Contact our office today to schedule a legal consultation.
