If you and your spouse are separating and you have children, one of the things you will want to consider is child support: who owes it and how much will it be?
Child Support Worksheets
To assist you with this task, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services provides worksheets that produce child support calculations based on certain inputs. There are three worksheets: A, B, and C. Worksheet A is to be used when one parent has primary custody, meaning that parent has the child for 243 or more overnights per year. For child support purposes, this is considered “primary custody”, but it does not change either parent’s legal custodial status, which is determined by your separation agreement or by order of the court – the number of overnights is important simply for deciding which worksheet to use.
Worksheet A will ask you for the number of children, monthly gross income, pre-existing child support payments, the number of other children, work-related child-care costs, health insurance premium costs, and extraordinary expenses. Enter this information, hit “calculate,” and Worksheet A will give you the appropriate amount of child support. (Click here to go to Worksheet A.)
If both parents have custody of the children for more than 123 nights per year, use Worksheet B to calculate child support. (Click here to go to Worksheet B.) Worksheet B will ask for both parents’ monthly gross incomes, and the number of overnights with each child. You must enter the total number of overnights with each child. For example, if you have two children who are with you three nights per week, the number of overnights entered into the calculator would be 312.
Worksheet C is for split custody situations, where one parent takes custody of one or more of the children, and the other parent takes custody of a different child or children. Like the other worksheets, this one will ask for the number of children each parent has living with them; each parent’s monthly gross income, any pre-existing child support payments that are owed, work-related child care costs, health insurance premiums, and extraordinary expenses.
Extraordinary Expenses
Extraordinary expenses generally refers to recurrent “extra” expenses related to the children. Examples might include special therapies that the child needs, such as speech therapy, or special tutoring that is required. In some cases, it could include private school tuition for the child, if both parents agree that private school is appropriate (or if a court finds it appropriate). Work-related child care costs are any costs that a parent has to incur in order to work; for example, the cost of a babysitter, after-school care, or someone to pick the children up from school every day.
Gross Income
“Monthly gross income” can be tricky, especially if one of the parents is self-employed. You should include your total gross income, before any deductions are taken out, and including retirement contributions. In the case of self-employment, it may be necessary to examine that parent’s business accounting records to determine the appropriate figure, as it would include any personal expenses that are handled by the business.
Negotiated Agreement
Each parent is required to provide support for their children until the child reaches 18 years of age or graduates from high school, whichever is later. You and your spouse can resolve child support and all other issues related to divorce through a negotiated separation and property settlement agreement. This will give you much greater flexibility and will allow you to resolve the issues between you creatively, so that both sides come away at least satisfied, if not completely happy. The child support calculators produce a reliable support obligation to assist with this process.