How is child support calculated?
In New Jersey, child support is based on Child Support Guidelines in New Jersey and is basically determined by taking the income of each of the parties and also some other factors and plugging same into a set formula that has been determined by a committee of the New Jersey Supreme Court. Besides including the income of the parties, the amount of time that each party spends with their children is also a factor so that essentially, in some sense, the more time that a parent spends with the children, the lower his or her child support obligation will be. There are also several other factors that go into the equation, including the requirement to pay child care and other factors. The only way to make a definitive answer as to how much the child support obligation will be is to have all pertinent information available and then utilize the guidelines step by step in order to find the ultimate amount.
The amount of child support a person pays is governed by the Child Support Standards Act (also known as the CSSA). It is based on the number of children the couple have and their income. For example, if they have one child, support is 17% of the gross income minus FICA, or .642%. This is the basic support obligation. In addition, extra costs such as daycare, out of pocket medical expenses, and summer camp are calculated on a pro rata share of the parties combined incomes. Certain exceptions apply to the CSSA that require a more in depth explanation. Please contact our office to meet with an attorney to discuss these issues in further detail.
Syrtash & Grunwald : It is usually based entirely on the gross annual income of the parent who pays it and the number of children in the care of the other parent, depending on the province where the children reside. Every province has a different pay scale according to a national grid called the Child Support Guidelines that shows how much the paying parent is obliged to pay.
