How is child support calculated?
Tennessee follows a shared-income model for child support. The court considers the income of both parents and determines the obligation based on their combined income and the number of children. A specific dollar amount results from this assessment, using a percentage of total income. Each parent is obligated to provide support in proportion to his or her income.
Child support in New York is calculated pursuant to the Child Support Standards Act (“CSSA”) The basic child support obligation is calculated by multiplying the combined parental income by the appropriate child support percentage. Income is defined as “gross income as was or should have been reported on the most recent federal income tax return” less deductions for social security and New York City and Yonkers income taxes. The “child support percentage” is fixed at: a) 17% of the combined parental income for one child; b) 25% of the combined parental income for two children; c) 29% of the combined parental income for three children; d) 31% of the combined parental income for four children; and e) no less than 35% of the combined parental income for five or more children.
According to the Texas Family Code, child support is calculated by multiplying the proper percentage by the paying parent’s net income. Net income is calculated by subtracting taxes, union dues, health insurance premiums for the children from gross income. Parents with only one child to support will pay 20% of their net earnings. For a father paying support for two children with the same mother, support will be 25% of net earnings. However, a father paying support to two children with different mothers will pay 17.5% of net earnings to each child. These percentages will only apply to the first $6000 of net earnings, unless the child or children have extraordinary needs.
• The Child Support Standards Act (“CSSA”) provides that the court shall calculate the “basic child support obligation”, and the non-custodial parent’s pro rata share of the”basic child support obligation”. Unless the court finds that the non-custodial parent’s pro rata share of the “basic child support obligation” is unjust or inappropriate, after considering ten statutory factors, it must order the non-custodial parent to pay their pro-rata share of the “basic child support obligation”. In arriving at the “basic child support obligation” the Court must calculate the “combined parental income” and multiply it by the appropriate “child support percentage.””Income” is defined as “gross income as was or should have been reported on the most recent federal income tax return”. There are required deductions from gross income for social security and New York City and Yonkers income taxes. The law contains provisions for additions to “income” and deductions from “income”.
In Oregon, child support is calculated based on the monthly income of both parents, the number of overnights the children spend with each parent, work-related child care expenses, and out-ofpocket costs paid for health insurance to cover the children. The Oregon child support calculator is located at The Oregon Department of Justice Web site. In some cases, a party may be able to present evidence sufficient to persuade the Court to order a different amount of child support, such as in cases where a disabled child may have extraordinary uninsured health care costs.
