by Lois Lawrence

Created on: May 08, 2008   Last Updated: May 12, 2008

When I first started practicing family law it was nearly impossible to predict how much child support my clients would be expected to pay or could expect to receive in a divorce. Orders varied widely depending on the whims and biases of individual judges, and also based on the negotiating or trial skills of the lawyers involved.

All that changed in 1988, when the federal government directed states to investigate the needs of children and to decide what portion of the total income of divorced parents should go to the support of their childen. As the result of this legislation each state formulated its own set of clear child support guidelines. While judges were not prohibited from varying from these guidelines, they were nevertheless required, when they did so, to explain on the record why they were doing so.

Almost overnight, the amount of child support that could be expected to be ordered, became the most, instead of the least, predictable aspect of any divorce case.

Provided that you know the net income of your spouse, it is now possible to calculate the probable amount of child support that will be ordered in your divorce case. The clerk of the court in your jurisdiction can provide you with a set of written guidelines and accompanying worksheets which will allow you to which explain how to calculate child support.

Almost universally, child support must be paid directly to the custodial parent. I often consult with clients who complain that their ex-spouse is misusing the child support they pay and that the child support check is being used for their ex's needs as well as for the needs of the child. I must advise those clients that, for most middle class families, combined family income is not sufficient to allow the custodial parent to dedicate child support to only such expenses.

Instead, child support is used to help pay to purchase, operate, and insure the family automobile in which the child rides; to heat and electrify the house in which the child lives, and to put food on the family table. Occasionally, without first seeking legal advice, disgruntled payors decide they will pay their child support directly to their child. They are surprised to learn, when it is too late, that such payments are treated as gifts and that they continue to owe support,now past due, to the custodial parent.

Depending on the laws of particular states child support may be ordered to be paid directly to the custodial parent, or to a state agency charged with collecting, distributing, and keeping track of payments. In either case, the payment may be collected by executing directly from the payor's wages or by allowing the payor voluntarily to arrange the payment.

Penalties for failure to pay support or failure to pay it in a timely way include sanctions ranging from an order to reimburse the custodial parent for the attorney's fees he or she incurred in enforcing the order, to incarceration.

I advise my clients that parents become separated, the absent parent should immediately begin to provide regular and fair support to ensure that the practical impact of the separation are not added to the inevitable emotional strain that their children face when their notion of family has forever altered.

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